My Heart Will Go On (Sequel of I Won't Give Up)
by xNekorux
Summary: Ashe now lives in the Du Couteau estate with her girlfriend and all is well for the two of them. Until, Katarina's past suddenly starts to catch up to her and becomes her number one problem. Now, she must face the consequences of her past actions, which drags her and her lover into trouble. Her past isn't the only one that has caught up though. {KatarinaxAshe} [Yuri]
1. Chapter 1

This story contains a bunch of **profanities, sexual humor, themes** and **what not** , so if you're bothered with that, don't force yourself to read this. ￣ˍ￣

Story rating may be considered as **Rated MA for Mature Audience**. Warnings may or may not be given on the start of a chapter whenever there's a scene not suitable for readers below **16-18 years old. •﹏•**

Every suggestion will be taken under consideration and will be given credit when your suggested idea will be used. (o^^)o

My stories are also not beta'd by anyone, so yeah. ✌

Credits from all images, including the picture of the cover, belongs to the rightful owners. I merely edited the cover, which I found on Google. ╮（╯◇╰）╭

I DO **NOT** CLAIM THE GAME, LEAGUE OF LEGENDS OR THE IMAGES. CREDITS BELONG TO THE RESPECTIVE OWNERS AND CREATORS.

In advance, I apologize if there are any typos and grammatical errors. English is not my native language, it's Tagalog, so, yeah! ﹋o﹋

I hope you readers enjoy the story! ∩_∩

 **ACT 1**

 _ **BAM!**_

Ashe whipped her head upward, her eyes immediately and instinctively searching for whatever had made that loud sound. She found a steel table right in front of her, and she also discovered that she's tied to the chair she's currently settled on, both of her hands locked behind her back with what she assumed is rope. The whole room she's in was nothing but darkness, save for the little white lightbulb above the center of the table.

Ironically, it looked like one of those typical interrogation rooms that people see in movies.

 _ **BAM!**_

Ashe jumped on her seat and once she blinked, she saw a person's outline standing right across from her. She couldn't identify who the person could be, regardless of her attempt in squinting her eyes to get a better look.

"Who... Who are you?" She hesitantly asked as she squirmed on her seat.

"..."

"W-Where am I?"

"..."

Ashe was feeling absolutely uncomfortable right now. She could feel the intimidating gaze the mysterious stranger was giving her, and she didn't like it one bit.

"P-Please... I...-!"

"Did you actually think you could just leave?"

She froze, her squirming halting and her whole body tensing. The voice of the speaker, it's the same voice that she thought she would never hear again. Her heart began to thunder in her chest as she refocused her gaze on the outline across from where she is settled and tied.

"S-S-Sierra?"

The person leaned over and came into the light...!

"Hello, Ashe," Sierra greeted with a sickly sweet smile.

The warm blood that once flowed through her veins ran cold as she looked into her stepmother's dark eyes.

"Did you actually think I'd let you go just like that?"

"I...-!

One of Sierra's hand shot forward and clasped around her throat, gripping it roughly as she glared menacingly.

"You haven't seen the last of me, Ashe." Her stepmother whispered in a bone-chilling tone. "When I come back, make sure you're prepared for the unexpected."

"Sierra, I...-!"

The older woman opened her mouth, and Ashe braced herself for maybe an earful of shouts and yells from her usually screeching so-called parent.

...!

 ** _Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep!_**

Ashe softly gasped as her eyes opened, finding herself under a blanket and wearing nothing while she loosely clutched a pillow against herself. With a light tug and a small push of her body, she emerged from under the sheet. Not so surprisingly, she's in Katarina's room, er, _their_ room.

But, what didn't escape her attention was the fact that smoke was slipping through the cracks of the door and filled the room little by little. Somewhere around the mansion, she could still hear the echo of the beeping fire alarm.

...

...

...

 _'Fire alarm!?'_

Ashe frantically searched for her girlfriend slash bedmate, who she discovered after two seconds worth of searching, is gone. She slipped away from bed and sped to the bathroom to check for Katarina, only to find an empty room.

 _'Maybe Katarina had already left.'_

She hoped that her thought is right. She rushed back to the bed, grabbed blanket and wound it around her bare form before speeding towards the door and exiting the room in a hurry. Still too disoriented with her 'just woke up' self and worried thinking, she didn't even thought of putting on some decent clothes.

Or at least a bathrobe.

The slit she had unintentionally left at the front would have probably driven Katarina crazy if the redhead were to see her now. Only a few inches are needed to be disposed off just to see what most men usually do anything just to personally catch a glimpse of. Ashe ran down the main stairs, sounds of the voices, the beeping of the alarm and a bunch of random noises becoming louder. There, she found Braum standing at the door the fully open front double-door of the mansion.

The big man ushered the household staff to come out quickly and said staff exited the mansion in a moderate and steady pace. Ashe followed the trail of smoke with her eyes, her gaze landing at the archway of a hall leading to the kitchen's location. Based from the amount of smoke that specific room was releasing, she deduced that the fire may be originating from that specific area.

"Miss Ashe!"

Ashe snapped her gaze attention back to Braum, who was now ushering her to leave the premises through the open doorway. Obediently, she carefully climbed down the stairs and went out through the exit. She didn't proceed immediately to the front lawn though. Instead, she stopped beside Braum, a worried expression on her face.

"Where's Katarina?" She asked, concern for her girlfriend written all over her face. "What's happening?"

"There's accident in kitchen, but Braum does not know all." Braum replied. "As for Miss Katarina, Braum does not know where she is."

Panicked and utterly worried for Katarina, Ashe tried to make a mad dash towards the kitchen to see if Katarina was there. Only to be stopped by the bigger man himself.

"No, no, no, Miss Ashe. Braum will not allow you to go back in."

"But, Katarina might be at the kitchen!"

"Then Braum shall check. For now, please, go over there with Miss Cassiopeia, yes?"

Ashe looked over her shoulder to where Braum pointed to and there she found at the front of the lawn, along with the already evacuated house staff, is Cassiopeia, only wearing a matching dark green bra and panties, a light yellow see-through, and not to mention, useless, nightrobe, and a pair of yellow fluffy slippers.

She was hesitant. A part of her still wanted to go and charge into the kitchen to try and find Katarina there, but another part told her to follow Braum's orders. She knew very well that Katarina would not be happy if she were to go through with her reckless decision.

"Fine," She looked up to Braum with wide, cerulean-tinted puppy dog eyes that no one, not even Marcus Du Couteau, could resist. "Find her, okay?"

Braum nodded, flashing a reassuring smile. "I will, Miss Ashe."

She turned away and went down the steps, firmly clutching the blanket wrapped around her body. When she finally reached Cassiopeia, she stood beside the other female, who had a mildly stressed-out facial expression. It's quite clear that Cassiopeia had just gotten out of bed herself. The green eyemask over her head, the messy state of her hair and her choice of attire being the key evidences.

"Do you know what happened?" She asked, thinking maybe the other has knowledge about the ongoing incident.

"No," Cassiopeia sighed. "Honestly, a maid just woke me up and told me there might be a fire spreading around the house."

"Is that why you're still..." Ashe trailed off.

"Yes, that's why I look like this." Cassiopeia then turned to face her. "And, I assume that's also the reason why you're wearing nothing but a sheet."

Ashe blushed lightly in embarrassment. "Uhh, yeah."

"Do you and Katarina actually have sex every single day? I mean, seriously. Where do you get your energy? Every time I go to your bedroom to prank Katarina, you or both, you two are always naked under the covers."

The amused and 'what the hell' expression on Cassiopeia's face and in her voice made Ashe's blush darken at least five shades of red. It was a rather straightforward and... uncomfortable question to and 'complaint' about her.

"Erm, um, not really..."

"Not really? So, at least every other day, then?"

Ashe suppressed a squeak from leaving her lips. She truly felt uncomfortable with the turn of their conversation. Discussing things such as... this is something she isn't very... contributing in. In her own opinion, this is Katarina's area of expertise in their relationship, not hers.

"It's still early in the morning, Cass," A familiar male voice spoke up. Ashe turned to the direction of the origin, spotting Talon, who now stood at Cassiopeia's once vacant side. "Teasing isn't something to do right now, especially with what's happening as we speak."

From the looks of it, Talon's state of dress is no better than them. The only son of the grand general merely donned a pair of blue and grey boxers. He also doesn't have a pair of slippers just like her. She didn't know which of the two of them is much more worse. Cassiopeia is obviously out of the question, since, in some way, she has more coverage than her and Talon.

"Have you seen Katarina?" She asked, hoping Talon would say yes, or at least nod.

"No, I haven't."

She looked back to the mansion's entrance, biting her lower lip nervously. Her embarrassment had already vanished. All that is left to her right now is her worry, and clearly that said worry isn't directed to herself.

...

...

...

...

...

Ashe nearly jumped and shouted with joy as soon as she saw Katarina emerge from the entryway of the estate, Braum guiding her down the stairs before he was dismissed with a wave of a hand by the said redhead. She smiled in relief and instantly waved a hand of her own up in the air as soon as Katarina looked towards her direction.

"Katarina!"

Relief also appeared on Katarina's face. Her girlfriend immediately weaved through the house staff and got to her in a jiffy. When Katarina was at least three to five meters away from her, she noticed a rather confusing and at the same time, unusual, detail about her lover.

Katarina's covered with soot.

She looked like she's been mining coals for hours, which is confusing, because last time she checked, there aren't any nearby mines or any mines inside the estate at all. Katarina reached out a soot-stained to caressed her smooth cheek, but halted halfway, internally not wanting to stain her clean face.

"Are you alright?" Ashe asked worriedly.

"I'm fine, I'm fine," Katarina stopped and coughed for a moment, releasing a small puff of smoke. "Totally fine."

Ashe took a step forward and was now probably just a few inches away from Katarina's soot-covered self. She grabbed a part of a blanket and used it to wipe some of the soot away from Katarina's face, unknowingly exposing more legs to the butlers and the people that had gathered around the Du Couteau mansion.

While Ashe cleaned the black stains on her girlfriend's face, Katarina noticed the perverted looks the men around them are giving, save for Talon, that is. Unknown to Ashe, her extremely possessive and protective girlfriend was becoming a bit furious.

"Aren't you wearing anything under that blanket?" Katarina questioned her.

"Oh, uh," Her blush returned. "No, I... I'm completely... naked under it."

Inside Katarina's head, the redhead didn't know if she was going to push Ashe down the dirt and have her way with her right on the spot, or to murder all the men that dared to try to sneak a peek under the sheet.

Thankfully, the fire department had arrived and finally did damage control. By the time the firefighters came into the picture, Ashe had already finished cleaning Katarina's face, neck, arms and hands and the previously purely white blanket was now marked with black faded stains thanks to the soot it had cleaned off.

Ashe saw Braum finish speaking to the head fire fighter and watched him in the corner of her eyes as her father-figure approached her and the three Du Couteau siblings.

Braum stopped right in front of them and cleared his throat. "There was no big fire, small fire only. Smoke triggered the alarm."

"What?" Cassiopeia's face twisted in confusion.

"Where did the smoke come from?" Talon queried calmly.

"Smoke came from bowl of pancake in oven and one of electric stoves."

"Wait a minute," She spoke up. "An electric stove doesn't have any fire."

"Well, most smoke came from electric stove, Miss Ashe. Fireman said so."

"Are you actually saying that some idiot actually started a fire with an electric stove?"

Ashe then noticed Katarina inching back and begin hiding behind her. "Katarina?"

"Huh? Uh, yeah?"

"Were you...?"

"What? Of course that wasn't me!"

Not only Ashe, but Katarina's two siblings and Braum had their eyes glued to her. The so called 'innocent' expression she has on her face didn't last long. It eventually dropped and disappeared.

"Okay, okay," She sighed in defeat, murmuring, "I was the one who triggered it."

"What!?" Cassiopeia screeched.

"It was an accident!" Katarina shouted back.

"Who the fuck puts a bowl of pancakes in the oven? No one, Katarina! No one! That's why they call it **PAN** cakes! It's made to be cooked in **fucking** pans!"

Cassiopeia tried lunging for her, but Talon had his arms locked around her waist, which kept the green haired female from completely pouncing at their own sister. Ashe decided to pull Katarina a fair distance away from Cassiopeia, who looked beyond infuriated. They both stood beside the parked cars of the Du Couteau family, including Ashe's Porsche.

When she turned her attention back to Katarina, she found her lover looking down to her feet and rubbing her elbow uneasily. She cupped Katarina's face with her hands and lifted it up, her eyes gazing directly into glum-looking emeralds.

"Katarina?"

"Sorry..." Katarina murmured, casting her eyes downward and breaking the eye contact.

"At least no one got hurt, that's what's important."

"No, no, it's... It's just that," Katarina sighed as she reconnected their gaze, shame hinting in her eyes. "I was hoping to bring you breakfast in bed, since it's our third monthsary, but... I obviously blew it."

Ashe was quite surprised with Katarina's reasoning. She truly didn't expect an answer like that, and of course she remembers their monthsary. She was actually planning on making a breakfast in bed for Katarina, but it looks like her girlfriend had the same idea and made sure to uncharacteristically wake up early to do the deed.

She started thinking of things that could cheer Katarina up and maybe remove the sad look in her green eyes.

...

...

...

Ashe is rarely one to openly flirt and start any flirtatious conversations with Katarina, and whenever she did, Katarina usually became somewhat energetic and of course, excited. Yes, in both normal and sexual manner.

"You know," She started, using one finger to lightly trace down from Katarina's cheek to her neck. "You could have just offered me what's on the menu."

"Menu?" Katarina's eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "What's on the menu?"

"Hmm... Coffee, juice, tea," She leaned forward and put on the smirk Katarina had once referred to as her very own _'sex smirk'_ , a so called gesture that came close to eye-fucking. "Or you."

Ashe merely used this _'special tactic'_ whenever her partner seemed to be too stressed, since she knows that it triggers Katarina's mood. Katarina made it fairly obvious, for almost every night, that she releases stress under the sheets with her, using either soft or rough touches, which Ashe didn't really mind. She clearly knew the effect on Katarina with this little curve of her lips, also knowing that it drove Katarina crazy with love and lust.

Mostly lust.

...

...

...

 ** _Bam!_**

Ashe suddenly found her back against the cold metal of her car's hood, Katarina's face buried in her neck, lips occupied with the task of sucking and nipping and tongue busy in needily licking and tasting.

As Katarina ravished her neck hungrily, Ashe couldn't help but be reminded by the little nightmare she had just dreamt of before she was awakened by the loud fire alarm. She decided to brush it off, thinking it may just be a few aftershocks from her past.

Now, she just needs to focus in finding a way to stop Katarina before she could reach under the sheet and shove a finger inside...-!

"Ohh!"

Too late.

 **xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx**

 **Author's Note** : _Like I always say, first chapter is usually short. ^_^_

 _I hope the readers from "I Won't Give Up" would also be present in this story. Hopefully, I still have your support. :D_

 _Reminder #1 - This story will be less than twn chapters._

 _Reminder #2 - This story has already been completed, just like I Won't Give Up._


	2. Chapter 2

**ACT 2**

Katarina, fully cleaned and already dressed in her signature leather outfit, sat on the foot of the bed and watched with utter focus and intensity as Ashe moved around their room in nothing but a white towel that barely covered her body. Katarina's completely tempted to pounce on her girlfriend, just like what she had done earlier out at the front lawn of the estate. She will never look at Ashe's car hood the same way again.

After the firefighters took their leave and all the smoke had finally dispersed from inside mansion, the cleaning staff immediately got to work in cleaning all the mess that were made and all the residents went back inside again. Katarina received an earful of lectures from her father through the house phone, since one of the butlers had informed the grand general, who's currently at the Institute of War, about the recent incident.

When everything had died down around them, everyone in the mansion resumed with their daily chores and such, looking and acting as if nothing eventful had happened.

Today is a weekend, therefore, there's no school, which gave Katarina a chance to wait until Ashe gets dressed to leave for her little part-time job. Yes, you read right. Ashe has a sideline job that she does at least three or five times a week. It usually depends on the schedule of her said job.

What's her job, you ask?

Well...

"What do you think would be more appropriate?" Ashe asked as she rummaged through a large closet they share that easily towered over her. "Just a pair of jeans and a shirt? Or a casual dress?"

"I'm sure whatever you wear, you'll be fine. Everything you wear makes you sexy."

"I don't _want_ to be sexy. I want to be more... becoming."

Katarina's eyes focused directly at Ashe's barely covered butt, while her said girlfriend continued digging through their folded clothes.

"Trust me, you are _very_ becoming."

Ashe pulled herself out of the closet and turned to shoot her a scolding look. She immediately snapped her gaze upward, but was a second too late, since her girlfriend had caught her staring at her ass.

"Can you please stop staring at my butt for at least a few seconds and give me a non-perverted opinion?" Ashe asked her, sounding a bit exasperated.

"One... Two... Three... Four... Five! Can I stare at your ass again?"

She received a glare from the Avarosa.

Well, she assumed it's supposedly a glare, but truthfully, Ashe looked like a little kid that didn't get what she wanted.

"You're cute, you know that?"

"Katarina!" Ashe groaned, lightly slapping a hand on her face. "I'm serious!"

"Alright, alright,"

At the whole duration of the first month Ashe began living with her and her family, she was still subtle in checking her own girlfriend out and did her little 'inspections' here and there in the most inconspicuous way possible.

But, when a few days after their second monthsary passed, she became bolder and bolder until her so called inspections were as obvious and blatant as fuck. Every time she got the chance, she would check her own lover out and wondered to herself how Ashe had managed to pass herself off as a man for so long. No man is this hot.

Katarina leaned back and used her hands as a stand. "What are the choices?"

Ashe reached back inside the closet and showed a loose denim dress on a clothes hanger, and a pair of blue jeans and a plain navy blue henley shirt. She looked between the two sets of clothing, auditing it for a few moments.

"I suggest you pick the second one," She suggested, gesturing at the shirt and jeans for a second. "It doesn't make you look too _'dressy'_."

Ashe is still a bit new to the whole _'dress like a real female'_ situation, so the Avarosa always asked for her opinion when it comes to picking clothes and such. Katarina didn't mind it though, since she's always happy to assist her lover whenever she's in need.

"Thank you." Ashe thanked genuinely, turning and hanging the dress back inside the closet. Once Ashe had taken a set of underwear from one of the drawers at the bottom part of the closet, the two doors were closed and Katarina waited for **THE** moment.

The moment where Ashe would take off her towel.

Katarina silently and _'innocently'_ watched as Ashe laid her clothes onto the space on the bed beside her. Now, Ashe stood in front of her, not exactly directly, but still, she has a good view from her place. Her girlfriend quirked an eyebrow at her, obviously noticing her gawking so openly.

"What?"

"Nothing," She answered with an oh so innocent look.

...

...

...

"You're waiting for me to take off my towel, aren't you?"

...

"Yes."

Ashe sighed as she began undoing the loose knot of her towel. "Seriously, Katarina. Don't you get enough of me?"

The towel fell down the floor...

And so did Ashe on Katarina's lap, courtesy of the redhead herself.

Katarina swiftly hid her face in the crook of Ashe's neck, eyes closed and nose inhaling the fresh scent Ashe always emitted. Her arms locked around Ashe's waist to keep her from standing. Not that Ashe was even planning on doing so.

"I will never get enough of you," She whispered. "It's cliché, I know, but you're my own personal drug, Ashe. Just a single whiff of your scent makes me crazy."

Ashe had her arms wound around Katarina's neck, a hand's fingers slowly brushing down and through her red hair. "You said it yourself, Katarina. We have all the time in the world on our hands."

...

Katarina parted her lips and latched it onto the cool and soft skin, gently beginning to suck. Ashe tensed in her arms as a short pleasurable feeling shot up her spine, one hand clutching the back of her leather jacket and the other fisting in her hair.

"Kat... Not now..." Ashe said, almost sounding like she was whining.

"But, Ashe~" She _'whined'_ back. "I want to~"

Much to her disappointment, Ashe started to pull away and stand up. She begrudgingly released her girlfriend, letting Ashe stand up and begin dressing up. Katarina settled on just watching Ashe dress, enjoying the 'show' as much as she can. When Ashe was finally all clothed, they both exited their room, her grabbing a certain scarf in the process, and made their way downstairs.

"Aren't you at least going to eat?" She asked as they climbed down the stairs step by step.

"I don't have much time. I have to be at the Pyromantia household in thirty minutes." Ashe told her.

She may not know it, but a gleam of concern showed in her eyes, which her ever observant girlfriend noticed in a heartbeat. Ashe intertwined one of her hands with one of her own.

"I'll eat an apple if it makes you feel better."

 _'It's better than nothing.'_ She thought.

"Fine. But, as soon as you get back from this new client of yours, I'm taking you out for dinner later."

Ashe smiled. "You don't have to."

"I want to at least redeem myself in some way."

She knew very well that Ashe is behind her daily schedule because of the ruckus she had caused first thing in the morning. Despite Ashe reassuring her that what she had done was nothing extremely sinful, she felt as if she had ruined half of their third monthsary. For her, taking Ashe out for a date would make up a bit for everything she caused earlier.

Opening one of the front doors, she let Ashe walk out first before following and closing the door behind her. The door clicked close and the two of them looked at the bottom the steps, where Ashe's car and her motorcycle is parked, two butlers on stand by beside the two vehicles

"Why do you do this little job of yours again?" She queried.

"Katarina," Ashe gave her a look. "You know why I'm doing this."

"Are you that excited to move out?"

"Of course not. I'm merely doing this job of mine to earn some money for myself. I can't have your father provide my own allowance or Cassiopeia and Talon always do my shopping."

The two of them shivered at the last part.

"I wouldn't want a repeat with the last one." Ashe muttered.

The two weeks of Ashe's stay at their estate, Talon had personally accompanied Ashe in shopping for her own underwears. Uncomfortable and awkward is still putting that situation mildly, honestly. Ashe was beyond embarrassed whenever Talon suggested a lingerie set or a negligee that Katarina would probably love.

Cassiopeia and Katarina weren't at the house that time, and Marcus had asked Talon to take Ashe out to shop for some clothes. Ashe had agreed that time, thinking that they were just going to shop for normal clothes. The Avarosa didn't expect she was going to shop around with Katarina's own brother.

Katarina sighed. "You know, Father doesn't really mind it. Also, Cass actually enjoys having someone to dress up from time to time."

"Still, Kat."

"Whatever," She said with a roll of her eyes. Katarina leaned forward kissed Ashe on the lips.

Ashe flashed her a smile as a form of thanks for accepting her reasons. They went down the steps and approached their respective vehicles, taking the keys from butlers. They didn't instantly board though.

"Drive safe." She called out.

"You too." Ashe replied with another smile.

Katarina got on her motorcycle as soon as Ashe slipped into her car, started the engine up and drove towards the vacant space right beside the driver's side. The window at the driver's door slid down, and Ashe raised both of her eyebrows in question.

"You know, you're the only babysitter I know that drives a sports car."

 **xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx**

Ashe slid into a park right in front of the Pyromantia mansion, exiting the car as soon as she turned the engine off and pulled the key out of the ignition. She pocketed the keys and made her way to the door of the wide abode of her new client. With a simple push of a button, she rang the doorbell and patiently waited for someone to enter.

Katarina never really liked the idea of her little part-time job, but she managed to convince the redhead to let her do it. Ashe may, or may not, have used sex to convince her lover, but of course, the important point there is that Katarina gave her permission to go through with babysitting.

The first child she actually babysat was Lux's cousin, Poppy, who visited them at the Crownguard estate. Ashe was visiting Lux that time, and Poppy seemed to have warmed up to her almost immediately within a day. Throughout the week of Poppy's stay with the Crownguard family, she always looked for Ashe. Lux suggested that, since Ashe is good with children, she should try babysitting whenever she has free time.

She ended up taking up that said suggestion since the pay was actually good, especially when she babysat the children of wealthy families.

The Pyromantia family is a new client of hers, and from what she heard, she was recommended to the family by one of her clients.

 ** _Click!_**

"Good morning," Ashe greeted the maid who opened the door.

"Good morning to you as well, miss," The maid greeted back. "Is there something you need?"

"I'm Ashe Avarosa, and...-!"

"Oh, yes," The maid opened the door wider than before. "You are expected. Please, come in."

The maid closed the door when she stepped in, then led her to the living room, where she found a man with a cane and is currently looking at a painting.

"Master Swain," The maid spoke in a respectful tone. "Miss Ashe Avarosa is here."

"Leave us," The man said without even glancing over his shoulder.

The maid bowed, despite the fact that Swain didn't see it, before murmuring an excuse me and leaving the room. Ashe didn't have to wait long for the man to turn around and finally acknowledge her. Swain walked up to her and stretched a hand out.

"I am General Jericho Swain," He introduced.

"It's nice to meet you, sir."

Swain gestured at a vacant seat for her to occupy, which she returned with a 'thank you' before sitting down. The man sat across her and on a couch, placing his cane beside him.

"Now, I do not have time for chatter. I will go straight to the point."

Ashe nodded quietly.

Swain cleared his throat before starting.

"General James Pyromantia had passed away a month ago, and ever since then, I've been living here at his own estate to, not only maintain its condition, but to also take care of his only child. As a higher-up in the Institute of War, I do not have the time to care much for the little girl, especially now that her habits of being a pyromaniac has gotten more untamed than before."

"Pardon me for asking, sir, but why not assign another maid or butler to take care of her?"

"They always end up getting third degree burns."

 _'Is the child really that wild?'_ Ashe thought for a moment. _'Probably not as wild as Kennen. He loves playing with a taser, and he did taser me once by accident.'_

Ashe pushed the memory of herself accidentally getting tasered by one of the kids she babysat at the back of her mind and focused on the man across her.

"I have heard from a few... sources that you are quite capable in keeping kids, such as James' daughter, in line, which is the main reason why I asked for you specifically."

"O-Oh..."

"You weren't my first choice. I attempted in hiring someone... ordinary, but I only found myself paying hospital bills at the end of the day."

 _'This child must be something...'_

"Well, Avarosa, are you able to tame a young pyromaniac or not?"

Ashe blinked.

And blinked.

And blinked.

"Aren't you going to ask anything about me?" She asked, a bit surprised that the man didn't bother interviewing her.

"I know that you're not a serial killer, and that is enough info for me to know about you."

"Umm... Okay?"

"Come, I shall introduce you to her."

Swain stood up and turned away, ushering her to follow. She got up as well and trailed after the older man. As they climbed up the main stairs, she started thinking about the situation.

' _Am I going to accept this job? It's almost the same as when Miss Akali asked me to babysit Kennen. It's also the same with how wild Poppy was in smashing things with her sledgehammer. I think the hammer's name was Whomper...-!'_

"Here we are," Swain's voice broke her out of her thoughts.

Swain knocked for a few times...

 ** _Knock! Knock! Knock!_**

"Who is it?" A little girl's voice came from the other side.

"It's Jericho."

"Come in!"

Swain gave her a look that said 'Prepare Yourself' before reaching for the doorknob and twisting it, pushing the door open. The smell of something burning instantly hit her full force, and Ashe almost coughed at the smell.

"Hi, Uncle Jerry!"

Ashe walked around Swain and...

Her eyes widened when she found herself looking at a familiar pair of green eyes.

"Annie," Swain began. "This is Ashe Avarosa, and she will be your new babysitter."

The young girl turned away from the wooden doll she was burning with a match and faced them, eyes wide and looking innocent, which contradicted with the current deed she's doing.

"Uh... Hi?"

Annie threw the wooden doll at the small and already lit fireplace and got up from the floor, running up to Ashe and wrapping her arms around one of her legs.

"Hello!"

Swain turned his gaze away from the child and refocused it on her. "I take that you can handle her?"

"Oh, um, of course."

"I shall take my leave, then. I will be back in the time of six o'clock." Swain turned away to leave, but stopped and murmured. "I'm quite confident that my pay to you will be worth every cent."

As soon as the door clicked close, Ashe swiftly looked down to Annie, who is still wrapped around one of her legs. The girl looked up to her with a big and bright smile.

"I can't believe it! You're my new babysitter!" Annie squealed excitedly.

Ashe gently pried Annie off before she crouched down to the girl's level. "I am."

"But, where did you get this?" Annie asked.

"Get what?"

"This."

Ashe followed the direction where Annie's finger is pointing at.

 _'Right...'_ She stopped herself from sighing.

Annie is currently pointing at her boobs.

"Umm, well, you see...-!"

"Oh! When you kissed Princess Katarina, did you suddenly become a princess like her?"

"Uh, what?"

"Like the story _'Princess and the Frog'_! When the princess kissed the frog, the frog became a prince!" Annie explained. "Is that why you're a princess now, too?"

"Umm, yeah, let's go with that."

It does save her from explaining a very complicated situation to a seven year old child. Don't even get Ashe started in how she's going to explain hers and Katarina's relationship.

"Want to play with me?" Annie asked with wide and hopeful eyes.

Ashe smiled. "Sure, why not?"

"Yay! Let's go!" Annie took one of her hands and began pulling her to an open chest filled with various toys.

Ashe followed Annie until the two of them were settled on the floor, the little girl bringing out a bunch of toys from the big toy chest. Surprisingly, all the toys were made out of wood.

"What are we going to play?" She casually inquired, picking up a wooden toy car.

"Burn!"

Suddenly, she found Annie handing her a match box filled with, well, matches.

"What's this for?"

Annie giggled.

"We're going to play my favorite game! I call it, _'Burn'_!"

Ashe watched with wide eyes as Annie scratched a match aflame and lit the tip of a wooden flute.

"Burn!" Annie cheered as the flute indeed begin to burn.

 _'She's worse than Kennen.'_

 **xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx**

Katarina walked out of the jewelry shop, holding a small grey box. She stopped and lifted the lid up, smiling to herself as she looked at the silver snowflake necklace. It's her gift for Ashe for their third monthsary.

She had it custom-made, and she can guarantee anyone that it's one of a kind. In a few parts of the small snowflake, tiny diamond gems glimmered and shined every time light reflected from them.

When their second monthsary came, Ashe had given her a checkered black and red scarf she knitted personally, which she is wearing right now. The cozy scarf contradicted with her choice of clothing, but she didn't give a single fuck if she looked tacky with it.

She had forgotten to get a gift for Ashe that time. Even now, she still pondered if giving Ashe six orgasms in one night is enough to be considered a monthsary gift.

 ** _Buzz! Buzz!_**

Katarina closed the jewelry box and stored it in her front left pocket, pulling out her vibrating phone from the right one. She looked down and answered the call.

"Well?"

"Katarina," The voice through the speaker started. "Are you sure about this?"

"Hey, just because I went on vacation for a few months doesn't mean I can't properly wield a blade again."

"Have you told her yet?"

Katarina scowled. "She doesn't need to know."

"Yes, she does." The caller calmly retorted.

"Stay out of my relationship, Evaine." She snarled. "Ashe doesn't need to know anything about this."

LeBlanc sighed from the other line. "Katarina, tell her. No secret stays a secret forever."

"Yeah? Well, I'm about to make history, then."

"Wouldn't this be unfair to her? Have you ever thought of it that way?"

"Just tell me my contract kill, so I can hang up on you."

Another sigh came from the woman. "She will die, Katarina. Tell her before it is too late."

"She won't," She growled angrily, fist clenching and her hold on her phone tightening. "Not while I'm around."

"You can't protect her by yourself."

"I can, and I will."

"She needs to know, Katarina."

"No, she doesn't."

"Why won't you tell her?"

"I know you love meddling, Evaine, but don't bother doing so with my own relationship."

"Katari...-!"

"Just tell me my fucking contract kill, so I can fucking hang up on you."

...

...

...

"Fine,"

Katarina impatiently waited for LeBlanc to continue.

"The next contract kill that came in is Ashe Avarosa."

Katarina felt like her heart suddenly stopped, and she almost dropped her cellphone. Her breathing halted and her form became as frozen as a stone statue.

...

...

...

Her fingers threatened to crush her phone.

"Fuck you, Evaine!" She growled furiously. "I'm fucking serious! Who's my contract kill?"

"I just told you, didn't I?" LeBlanc flatly answered back. "I'm sure you won't need any more information about your target. After all, you can always slit her throat while she's sleeping right beside you."

 **Click!**

"Evaine? Evaine!" She pulled her phone back and re-dialed LeBlanc's number. "Evaine! Pick up, dammit!"

When her third attempt of trying to reach LeBlanc posed to be futile, she decided to fuck it and shoved the gadget back inside her pocket. She immediately mounted her motorcycle and drove out of her parking spot, tires screeching and burning rubber in the process.

'This can't be happening!'

 **xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx**

 **Author's Note** : I'm back! :D And so is Annie in this story! :P

And of course, reviews are welcomed by yours truly. 😆


	3. Chapter 3

**ACT 3**

LeBlanc laid back on her leather chair, a finger dipped inside the glass goblet of red wine she held with one hand, swirling the liquid in a slow fashion. She stirred the red liquid for a few more times before pulling her finger away and licking the wine off of her finger, ignoring her vibrating cellphone. Instead, she looked at her laptop's screen, reading the kill contract sent to her just a few minutes ago.

 **Sender** : _Unknown_

 **Target** : Ashe Avarosa

 **Conditions** :

\- _make the girl suffer a **slow** and **painful** death_

 _\- record the whole kill_

 **Payment** :

\- _$5,000,000_ ( in cash)

She brought the glass close to her dark painted lips and drank a small amount of the tamed liquor. It seems that looking at the highest offered contract kill to the Black Rose somehow made LeBlanc a bit thirsty.

After consuming a fair amount of wine, she took the bottle of wine from the table and refilled her glass with more of the blood red drink. Relaxing and making herself comfortable on her seat, she decided to wait patiently.

Katarina is, after all, on the way.

 **xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx**

Katarina shoved the two men away from the entrance of the confidential apartment the heart of the Black Rose can be found, literally storming into the building with fury and anger in her emerald eyes.

Inside of her, it was like a whirlwind of emotions. She didn't know if she was going to be angry or be worried. She wanted to vent out right now, and honestly, she's thinking of the two ways on how to do just that. Before she decides to release some steam though, she needs to deal with LeBlanc first.

The men at the lobby steered clear from her as she walked past them, not bothering on greeting them or giving them a single glance of acknowledgement.

She stomped up the stairs and was at the very top floor in just a minute. Once she stood at the front of the door of LeBlanc's office, she lifted one foot up and drove it forward, kicking the door back and causing it to hit the wall.

"Evaine!" Katarina menacingly snarled as she stormed into the room.

LeBlanc, who was in the process of drinking from her glass of wine, calmly pulled the goblet away and placed it on her table and just beside her laptop.

"Afternoon, Katarina," LeBlanc greeted calmly.

"What the fuck did you mean by Ashe being my next contract kill?" She questioned harshly, stopping just in front of the desk.

"What I said is what it is."

Without another word, LeBlanc turned her laptop around and showed the kill request displayed on the screen. Katarina snatched the laptop from the desk and lifted it up to her face level, her green eyes scanning everything shown on the gadget's screen.

As she read and processed every detail in her mind, fear and worry started building up inside of her. She placed the laptop back on the desk, her eyes gazing at the screen blankly.

When she had started a relationship with Ashe, she never anticipated that her past would actually pose a threat to them, especially to Ashe. All her life as a hitwoman, not any of the people she cares about were put in danger.

But now...

Ashe is in danger. Ashe, someone she deeply loves and cares for, someone she would sacrifice her own life for, is in complete danger.

 _'Is it because of me...? Am... Am I the reason why Ashe's life is at risk?'_

...

...

...

"What," LeBlanc's voice broke her out of her lost state. "Did you really think you could keep all of this from her?"

"What did you expect me to do?" Katarina questioned, directing a furious glare to the older woman. "What, did you actually expect me to tell her everything?"

"Mm-hm,"

"To tell her that I kill people for a living? To tell her that I murder people without batting an eyelash?"

"Yes."

"Are you listening to what I've been saying, Evaine? I sound like a fucking psychotic killer! Do you really think Ashe would stay with me? Fuck! She'll leave me in a split-second! I don't want to her to leave me, alright? Truth be told, I don't want her to leave because I **WANT** her with me. I'm a fucking selfish bitch who doesn't want her own girlfriend to leave her."

"Are you seriously going to keep lying to her?" LeBlanc calmly asked.

"I will, if it means making her stay by my side."

"And you actually think she'll leave you when she discovers the truth?"

"She won't think, Evaine. She **WILL** leave as soon as she knows."

"Then, why is she still with you?"

"What? What the fuck are you..."

Katarina trailed off with her question as she looked at LeBlanc's so called 'innocent' smile. It's the same smile that always held another meaning beneath its simple curve.

...

...

...

Her eyes widened as realization dawned to her.

"You... You fucking told her!?"

"Hm,"

Katarina's hands shot forward and grabbed the front of LeBlanc's top, half-yanking the woman off of her chair and almost pulling her over the desk.

"Why the fuck did you talk to her!?" She hissed angrily, looking and sounding absolutely livid. "Did I tell you to intervene with my personal life? No! I did fucking not!"

"She had to know, Katarina," LeBlanc told her, still calm and composed, in spite of the fact that Katarina looks quite ready to rip her limb from limb. "It was inevitable from the very beginning."

"Had to know!? Inevitable!? Damn it, Evaine! She didn't need to know anything about my past!"

"Yes, she did," LeBlanc pried her hands off of her and lightly pushed her back, dusting and arranging herself after.

She gritted her teeth. "What did you tell her?"

"Long story short, Ashe knows how I found you, what age you started in being a hitwoman, the summary of how you got your little scar and that you kill people. That's it."

"Bullshit."

"I didn't go into full detail, Katarina. After all, I merely warned her, since she's going to be in various kinds of difficult binds when the time comes."

"That time will never come." Katarina declared, determination in her emerald eyes.

"You're that confident that you can keep her safe?" LeBlanc asked her, amusement lacing her to voice.

"I know I can keep her safe."

"Mm-hm, well, let me remind you one of the people that you antagonized. Do you recall your two contract kills involving the _'Fortune Mafia'_?"

LeBlanc didn't bother waiting for an answer from her.

"You murdered the patriarch and the matriarch of the family, which obviously wasn't taken lightly by their daughter, Sarah Fortune." The woman said as she faced the laptop back to her and began typing.

Katarina scoffed. "I can take care of a prissy little bitc...-!"

"She _was_ once just a harmless woman, but now," LeBlanc turned the laptop back to Katarina.

The laptop now displayed a live hacked feed from a street camera right in front of the Pyromantia family's mansion. LeBlanc then pointed at the woman walking up to the estate, passing by an awfully familiar Porsche.

"She's known as the _'Bounty Hunter'_."

Katarina's eyes widened, her blood becoming as cold as ice.

"We're not the only ones who were contacted to kill Ashe."

"No... No...! Ashe is...-!"

"I suggest you hurry, Katarina. If you don't, who knows what will happen to your precious little lover."

 **xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx**

Ashe fixed up a ham and cheese sandwich for Annie, who is currently sitting on a stool and playing with a box of matches. She had tried asking and talking Annie into giving up pyromancy, but the girl merely laughed at her and waved her words off.

"What else do you want in your sandwich?" Ashe asked, looking up from the half-finished sandwich.

"I want... cheese! And **lots** of it!" Annie said, making wild gestures with her hands. "Oh! And, can you make a sandwich for Tibbers too?"

"Of course, Annie. What does Tibbers want in his sandwich?"

"Ham! Lots and lots of ham!"

Ashe chuckled at Annie's excitement. "Alright, alright,"

The kitchen was filled with Annie's conversation with Tibbers, who is currently seated on the kitchen island. Ashe hummed a soft tune to herself while she prepared Annie's and Tibbers' snacks.

...

...

...

 ** _Ding! Dong!_**

She turned to the entrance of the kitchen, which leads to the front door of the estate, while Annie ignored the doorbell's sound. When Ashe made a move to go and answer the door, Annie spoke up.

"You don't have to answer it," Annie said, capturing her attention.

"Huh?"

"There's a maid assigned to answer it, so you don't have to."

"Oh, I see,"

Just like what Annie had said, Ashe heard a set of footsteps and a voice of a maid calling out to the visitor. She resumed with her task and continued humming once again, the faint click! of the front door being opened reaching her ears.

...

...

...

 ** _Bang!_**

 ** _Thud!_**

Ashe snapped her head to the entryway, while Annie jumped on her stool in surprise, gaze and attention now directed to the entrance as well. The little girl swiped Tibbers off the island and clutched the toy tight against her.

"W-What was that?" Annie asked, mildly trembling in fear.

"Wait here," Ashe slowly made her way to the archway, steps slow and cautious. She finally reached the entrance. Hesitantly, she peeked around the corner. Half of her face was peeking out, and with one eye, she spotted the bleeding corpse of the maid, the front door was ajar, and the visitor, who turns out to be a female, raised one of her pistols up and pointed it at...!

...

...

...

 ** _Bang!_**

Ashe yelped and practically threw herself back as soon as a bullet caused the wood right in front of her face to splinter in hundreds pieces, her back hitting the kitchen island painfully before her legs collapsed below her due to lack of balance.

"Agh!"

"Ashe!" Annie cried out from behind her.

She ignored the soreness in her back and quickly got up from the floor, rushing towards Annie. She took the girl in her arms and made her way to the alternate exit, holding the little girl in her arms securely.

 ** _Bang! Bang!_**

A part of the archway they went through splintered, just like the first one, as soon as two bullets shot forward and pierced through the wood, causing Ashe to visibly wince and Annie to jump in her arms.

"Ah!" Annie squeaked out, seeing first-hand what had almost happened to them.

Adrenaline started flowing and pumping through Ashe's body, giving her additional energy to run and carry the young girl in her arms, while her heart began thundering in her chest, its pace picking up with significant speed.

"Ashe, hurry!" Annie whimpered before suddenly shouting, " **She's behind us!** "

She spared a second's worth of glance over her shoulder and found their 'visitor' standing at the kitchen archway, pointing two pistols at them.

Ashe dove down to the floor as the killer pulled the trigger of her two firearms. Bullets whooshed past at least a few inches above Ashe's head before she and Annie crashed onto the carpeted ground.

"Don't move too much," The female called out from the end of the hall. "I'm trying to kill you, don't you know?"

 ** _Bang!_**

Ashe jumped back and was nearly shot on the leg, the newly-made bullet hole just a few inches away from her right calf. The dual pistol-wielding person mockingly laughed at her actions.

"Stay still, Avarosa!"

She spun around, took Annie back in her arms and swiftly got back up on her feet. She continued running down the hall, her pace faster than before. Behind her, she could hear the quick sounds of clicking and clacking of the woman's boots as she gave chase and trailed after them.

Ashe swerved around a corner and went up a set of stairs at her left...

 ** _Bang!_**

"Ah!" She released a surprised scream when a bullet, once again, nearly blew her brains out. Annie was crying in her shoulder now, clearly afraid of what's happening. She knew she had to find a place where they can hide, or at least somewhere where she can hide Annie from the mysterious and deadly shooter.

She risked another glance over her shoulder after she climbed up the stairs, and thankfully, the killer was nowhere in sight. Ashe ran for a few seconds before she grabbed one of the doors in the hall and swung it open, making a mad dash towards the closet. Throwing the closet's doors open, she pried Annie's arms off of her and placed the girl behind a bunch of hung clothes and small stacked boxes.

"Stay here, alright?"

"Ashe," Annie whimpered, grabbing one of her hands before she could completely pull it away. "Don't leave me, please."

"Don't worry, I'll be back, okay? Just stay here and be quiet."

Annie's lips quivered and tears ran down from her eyes. It's obvious that the child didn't want to let her go. She brushed Annie's hair back and placed a quick kiss on her forehead.

"I'll be back for you, I promise."

"Pinky promise?" Annie stuck her pinky out to her.

She managed to flash a small reassuring smile as she wound her pinky finger around Annie's much smaller one.

"Pinky promise."

Annie finally let her go, and almost as fast as lightning, she swiftly closed the closet doors and ran back out of the room. She closed the door and frantically looked around before she sprinted down the hall, seeing that the shooter is nowhere in sight.

Every second that passed without the killer making her appearance again, it sent a new wave of fear inside of Ashe. As she ran, her heartbeat became more and more wild and unsteady. She began thinking about Katarina. Oh, how thankful Ashe is that her girlfriend isn't here. She doesn't know how she'll react if Katarina were to get hurt because of he...-!

"Whoops."

Ashe felt her right foot get caught on something, making her trip and crash down the floor roughly. She grunted, clutching her left wrist, which she assumed, is now sprained and is now screaming to be taken care of. She felt a boot-clad foot kick her on the stomach and to the side, forcing all the air in her stomach to rush out with one pained gasp and her to roll over and face whoever it is responsible of her fall.

A female, probably at the same age as her and Katarina, stood there, two pistols in her grasp and readily aimed at her. The killer smiled sweetly at her.

"Hello, Avarosa,"

Ashe couldn't say anything, not only because she was still steadying her breathing, but because her eyes were too focused on the two pistols probably a quarter of a meter away from her face, ready to shoot out two deadly bullets.

The female laughed at her expression and her current state. "Your face is oh so priceless."

"W-What... What do you want from me?"

"Don't you know? There's a five million dollar prize for the person who kills you."

"W-What...?"

"Actually, that's just a big bonus for me,"

"Bonus?"

"Listen, Avarosa, I have a story to tell you." The killer crouched in front of her, keeping one pistol aimed at her face as she did. "Once upon a time, I was just a spoiled little brat. A happy one, if I may add. Everything was perfect. My mother always took me shopping and played dress-up with me whenever she had the time, my father gave me everything that I asked for, everything I wanted. I had every single thing a child could only dream of... But, one night, a girl, as young as me, came. Twelve year old me woke up from a pathetic nightmare on the same night, so I went to my parents to find comfort. But, do you know what I found?"

Ashe swallowed the lump in her throat as the female pressed her pistol's muzzle below her jaw, the cold metal sending chills of fear up her spine. When she showed no sign of answering, the shooter continued.

"I found Katarina Du Couteau, standing on top of my mother's bleeding corpse. My father was already dead that time. After all, a knife through the forehead is instant death, right? Katarina was still too absorbed in slitting my mother's throat that she didn't even notice my presence."

"P-Please... K-Katarina didn...-!

"Oh, shut up," The female lightly slapped her with a pistol, cutting off her words. "Don't bother defending her. It's useless, and not mention, pathetic."

"K-Kill me, n-not her..."

The killer looked at her with amusement. "Really now?"

Ashe nodded shakily, form trembling visibly.

"You love her _that_ much?" The female stored one of her pistols in its holster and used her free hand to pinch one of Ashe's cheeks for a moment. "That's so cute! You actually love her!"

She stayed quiet as the female mocked her.

"You actually love a murderer, a killer! I absolutely admire you, Avarosa, especially your selflessness."

The cold muzzle of the pistol pressed against her forehead, and her heart was _this_ close in bursting out of her due to her fear.

"But, like I said, the prize money is just an added bonus. I accepted the contract, so I can finally get my revenge on your little girlfriend." The female leaned forward, then whispered, "Some people believe that deceased loved ones sometimes appear in their dreams..."

The killer placed a finger on the pistol's trigger, while a smirk curved up in her lips.

"Tell Katarina... That Sarah Fortune says hello."

" **Ashe!** " A voice shouted out from behind Sarah, fast footsteps echoing throughout the hall.

...

...

...

 **BANG!**

 **xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx**

Katarina didn't bother turning the engine of motorcycle off. She hopped off of her vehicle, letting it fall down the grass of the front lawn carelessly. With a pounding heart rate, she race through the open front door of the Pyromantia estate. She merely spared a glance at the maid's corpse as she hopped over it.

As soon as she was inside, she followed the clues and hints left by Sarah, the destroyed arches and splinters of wood serving as the trail. She ran down the hall, the same hall Ashe had went through when Annie was still in her clutches.

Katarina just gave the bullet hole on the floor a brief glance, not bothering on stopping to examine it thoroughly. Time was running out, and deep inside, she could envision Ashe hanging on a single fragile thread.

She found a splintered stair railing and climbed up the mentioned stairway, pushing all her energy and might in her legs as she skipped two steps each time she lifted one foot of hers. Her speed increased as soon as she caught the sight of her goal.

Eyes instantly widened when she saw Sarah pressing the muzzle of her pistol against Ashe's forehead.

 _'Closer...'_

Adrenaline coursed through her system.

 _'Closer...!'_

"Ashe!"

 _'Closer!'_

...

BANG!

 **xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx**

 **Author's Note** : _Ashe is effin' DEAD! I had mentioned to a certain reader, IvaVampire (from Wattpad) that this story has a sad last chapter. :3_

 _See? Told you this story doesn't have a happy last chapter! :O_

 _Don't kill me, readers, for killing Ashe! (0o0)_

 _Okay, enough of the exaggeration. Let's get real. I wouldn't kill Ashe like this! XD_

 _Oh, to change topic, I wanted to put my 2nd favorite ADR slash 2nd main champion, Miss Fortune, in the story, so here she is! ^_^_

 _Obviously, Ashe is my first main and most favorite champion in the whole League. :P To be honest, I don't know how to play Katarina, I suck at AP champions! XD_


	4. Chapter 4

**Warning** : _There's a mature scene in this chapter._

 **ACT 4**

Ashe fell to the floor, eyes blinking rapidly as the ringing in her ears consumed her whole thinking. She was completely disoriented, too disoriented that she didn't notice Katarina tackle Sarah down the ground beside her, which is the sole reason why she's still alive.

When Katarina had tackled Sarah, the female just ended up shooting the floor, only nearly killing Ashe. But, the pistol was fired right beside Ashe's left ear, which explains the painful ringing in her head and ears. She held her temple with her uninjured hand, shaking her head in an attempt to banish the internal ringing.

She looked to her left and found Katarina and Sarah engaged in a fight. She watched with a mildly blurry line of vision as Katarina managed to steal the pistol from Sarah's holster. Katarina was on top of Sarah and had the most advantage, which she used to its fullest extent. The redhead pointed the pistol directly in front of Sarah's face, causing the Bounty Hunter to halt her movements.

"I'm going to fucking kill...-!"

"Kat..." Ashe called out in a low whisper, reaching a hand out to her girlfriend.

Katarina's focus on Sarah wavered, her eyes flickering to Ashe for a moment of worry and distraction. Sarah took advantage of this. The shooter drew her other pistol and whipped it across Katarina's face, throwing the redhead off of her.

Sarah swiftly stood up and aimed her pistol right above Ashe's face. Ashe, who is still lying down on the floor, stared at the pistol's muzzle right above her face, the ringing inside of her still faintly sounding. She could still feel a few hints of fear at the back of her mind.

"One move, Katarina," Sarah warned with narrowed eyes. "One wrong move and I'll shoot her."

Katarina was crouched a short distance from Ashe, pistol aimed at Sarah. "Drop it, Fortune! Now!"

"I'll gladly drop a bullet on your girlfriend's face." Sarah said mockingly. "Put my pistol down and slide it to me."

"Why the fuck would I listen to you?"

"If you don't listen to me, then it's bye-bye for the Avarosa. Your choice."

 **xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx**

Katarina was tempted to pull the trigger and finally be done with it, but that would also mean that she's going to risk Ashe's life. She's not overly-confident that she'd be able to pull the trigger first before Sarah does, and not only that, but...

Can she do it?

Can she actually kill someone in front of Ashe?

"Tick-tock, Du Couteau," Sarah snarkily said, catching her attention once again. "Give me my gun, or I'll shoot her head."

Katarina clenched her teeth. With a mental string of colorful curses, she lowered the pistol and slid it towards Sarah, who then crouched for a moment to get the weapon, before returning back to her posture. She placed the pistol back to its holster, but didn't take her aim away from Ashe.

"Alright," Katarina gritted out. "You have your stupid gun. Now point your fucking pistol away from Ashe's face."

Sarah smirked. "How 'bout no?"

As soon as Sarah made a move in pulling the trigger, Katarina lunged forward to try and snatch the firearm away. Sarah grunted lowly and suddenly...!

 _ **Bang!**_

"Agh!" Came Ashe's agonized cry.

The pained sound Ashe released fueled Katarina's fury, and before Sarah could even blink, Katarina had grabbed her by the neck and slammed her against the nearest wall, discombobulating her. Katarina gripped Sarah's neck tightly before literally throwing the female through a nearby window, forcefully breaking the glass with Sarah's own form.

Katarina was actually tempted to just snap Sarah's neck in that very moment, but, knowing Ashe is there to see her do the execution, she ended up settling on just tossing the female out. She didn't bother looking over the edge to see whatever happened to Sarah. Instead, she spun around and dashed towards Ashe's now fallen form.

"Ashe..." She breathed out as she kneeled beside her girlfriend.

The bullet that was shot a few seconds ago ended up lunging itself inside Ashe's left shoulder, which is the current cause of pain for Ashe herself.

"Don't worry, don't worry," Katarina tried reassuring. "You'll be fine, alright? You'll be fine."

Unexpectedly, Ashe reached forward and wrapped her right arm around her neck, pulling herself off the floor and hugging Katarina against her.

"A-Ashe...?"

"Are you... Are you alright...?" Ashe breathlessly asked her.

She didn't know what she did or who she killed to have someone as selfless as Ashe care for her and love her. Here she is, completely unharmed, and here her girlfriend is, bleeding from a bullet wound, but still has the energy to ask about her well-being out of concern for her. She wrapped her arms around Ashe, holding her lover tightly against her.

"I'm fine, Ashe. I'm completely fine." Her arms tightened significantly.

"Annie... I... Get me up..."

"What?" She pulled back a bit and shot Ashe a confused look.

"I... I need to get up... I need to get to Annie..."

"No," She grunted. "You shouldn't move around too much!"

"She's waiting for me, Kat," Ashe murmured. "I have to get her..."

Katarina pursed her lips, looking hesitant. But, when she looked into Ashe's pained and pleading cerulean eyes, she found herself giving in.

"Fine,"

From a distance, she heard the sirens of police cars approaching. She silently thanked in her mind whoever had called the authorities. She assumed that one of the staff members of the household had called for them during all the ruckus.

Slowly, and carefully, she lifted Ashe up from the floor.

 **xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx**

Ashe wordlessly sat on her hospital bed, while she waited for the doctor that recently left to grant Katarina entry in her hospital room. Annie was utterly relieved when they had went back for her earlier when they were still at the estate. After that, it was all a blur to her. The walk outside the mansion, the drive to the hospital, everything.

Her shoulder doesn't hurt and her sprained wrist isn't aching anymore, all this is thanks to the medical treatment she was given. The bullet was removed, her wound was cleaned, stitched and finally, bandaged, just like her wrist.

She doesn't know why she suddenly has a five million bounty on her head, but what she does know is that she needs to speak to Katarina about her past. A topic the redhead seems to always avoid whenever she inquired about it. At first, she never thought about it much, but after she spoke to LeBlanc, she thought maybe Katarina would open up the subject voluntarily.

Unfortunately, a month had already passed ever since her talk with the founder of the Black Rose, and Katarina has yet to utter anything about it. Ashe can clearly see now that the topic should be discussed now and no sooner than that.

 _ **Click!**_

Looking up from her lap, she found Katarina just entering the room. A sad but relieved smile on her face.

"Hey," Katarina greeted, closing the door before approaching the bed.

"Hi," She greeted back with a weak wave of a hand.

When Katarina got closer, she scooted a bit to her left and provided some space at her right, enough for her girlfriend to sit on. Katarina, of course, accepted the offered place without an inch of hesitation.

They both sat still in silence for what seemed like hours. Ashe didn't really know how to start the conversation in her wanted topic, and Katarina seemed to be looking troubled, and at the same time, depressed.

"I'm sorry," Katarina abruptly apologized, finally breaking the silence.

Ashe was confused though. "Sorry?"

"Yeah..."

"What for?"

"For this," Katarina gestured at her bandaged shoulder before gesturing all around her. "For _all_ of this."

"Katarina," Ashe placed a hand over one of Katarina's own. "This isn't your fault. You weren't the one who did this to me."

"But, Ashe...-!"

"But nothing, Kat," Ashe cut off. "I should actually thank you."

"Thank me?" Katarina sardonically scoffed. "Why should you thank me?"

"Because of you I'm alive right now."

"But you're hurt."

"And alive."

"Ashe, I...! I...!" Katarina sighed. "Why?"

Her eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "Why what?"

Katarina gracelessly gestured at herself. "Why me? Why not love someone else?"

Ashe sighed, rubbing her eyes with her thumb and index finger. "Katarina, stop it."

The redhead would have none of it though. "I mean, what did you see in me? I... I bullied you! I abused you! And, and, I...! I... I suck."

"Stop degrading your image, Katarina. It doesn't become you."

"Just answer it, Ashe. Please. Why, of all the people around this whole stupid world, did you pick me?"

"I didn't choose you," Ashe took Katarina's right hand and placed it over her steadily beating heart. "My heart did."

Katarina gazed at her with deeply saddened emerald orbs.

"And I choose to follow my heart, and my heart wants you and only you. It beats for you, and honestly, I have no objection with its choice."

"I'm scared," Katarina suddenly admitted.

"Scared?"

"I'm scared that... because of me..." The fingers on Ashe's chest twitched. "This heart of yours... will stop beating."

"That will never happen."

"How can you be so sure? You almost died earlier!"

"You aren't the one who's offering to pay five million dollars for my head, so shush yourself with those self-blames."

"I wish you never met me."

Ashe frowned, while she let Katarina pull her hand away from her chest. "Do you really mean that?"

"Yes," Katarina sighed out. "If you hadn't met me, maybe Sarah wouldn't have gone after you. If you hadn't met me, then you won't be here in this stupid hospital. If you hadn't met me...-!"

"If I hadn't met you, then I wouldn't have been free from Sierra." She cut Katarina off all of a sudden.

Ashe took Katarina's right wrist and tugged, causing her girlfriend to look up and meet her eyes again.

"Come here,"

Katarina made a move to pull her wrist back and do the exact opposite Ashe had requested, but Ashe's grip around Katarina's wrist was firm and secured. Ashe tugged on her lover's wrist again.

"Katarina, please, just come,"

She watched for a brief moment as Katarina internally contemplated her request in her mind. Mutely, Katarina fully got on the bed and crawled towards Ashe's waiting arms, kicking her boots off in the process.

Usually, it's Ashe who snuggles up in Katarina's arms. Whenever it's the other way around, it mostly meant that Katarina is either really tired, or is completely stressed and needs someone to hold her.

Ashe wrapped her undamaged arm around Katarina and pulled her lover closely against her, planting a soft kiss against Katarina's temple.

"Sorry..." Katarina, once again, apologized, looking somber.

"Don't bother apologizing. I'm not mad about it,"

"So, don't worry, okay?"

"Ashe?"

"Hmm?" She hummed, her fingers lazily yet soothingly rubbing Katarina's right shoulder.

"You spoke to Evaine, right?"

"..." Her fingers halted its movements.

"Ashe?"

Her fingers resumed its task after a moment. "Yes, I did."

"Why didn't you tell me?"

Ashe looked down to the redhead in her arms. "Why didn't you tell me?"

She felt Katarina snuggle deeper against her chest, while the other's lips formed into a line for a few seconds.

"I was... selfish."

"Selfish? How?"

"I... I didn't want you to leave me," Katarina whispered lowly, so low that Ashe almost didn't hear it.

"Leave you?"

Katarina hesitantly nodded her head. "I was afraid that if you discovered my past, you'd just leave me."

"Katarina..."

"I... I killed people, Ashe. I murdered them. My hands... They're stained with blood." Katarina lifted one of her hands. "They're the same hands that I touch you with, same hands that give you pleasure, same hands that would do anything just to protect you."

Ashe, ignoring the sting of pain in her left shoulder, reached out and took Katarina's raised hand in her bandaged one, gazing down to her lover. "Do I complain?"

Katarina adjusted herself and was now looking up to her, their faces inches away from each other.

"Don't you feel disgusted? Revolted, even?"

"Should I?"

"Ashe, listen to me. These hands, they're the hands I used when I took the lives of my targets. Aren't you at least a bit sickened by them?"

"Not at all."

"Aren't you horrified, then?"

"Why should I be?"

"You share a bed with a killer, you intimately touched a manslayer, you kissed a murderer, and you love an assassin. Don't you see anything wrong with all that?"

"You're wrong, Katarina," She told her girlfriend. "I don't share a bed with a killer, I was never intimate with a manslayer, I never kissed a murderer, and I do not love an assassin."

She ignored the mild throbbing pain in her left shoulder as she reached up to stroke the side of Katarina's face with her left hand, keeping her right arm wound Katarina.

"I share a bed with my hero, I made love with my saviour, I kissed the love of my life, and I am absolutely in love with my eternal mate."

"You don't... mind...?"

"Mind your past?"

Again, Katarina hesitantly nodded her head.

"I don't mind it, Kat."

"Even... my scars?"

"No," To prove her point, she leaned down and placed a chaste kiss on Katarina's eye scar. "Not even the slightest bit."

"Why? Don't you hate them?"

"I won't hate you for your scars, because your scars are what makes you you."

"If I had slapped you, do you think it would have been different?"

"Are you talking about...?"

"Yeah... First day of Pilty Fair."

Ashe prevented herself from sighing. "Katarina, I thought you already moved on from that."

"Well? Do you think it would have been different?"

"Do you actually want to know?"

"No."

"Then, forget about it. It is, after all, in the past. You clearly know that I forgive you. You only torture yourself whenever you recall that specific memory."

"Speaking of pasts... I should probably tell you about mine."

"If you're not ready, Kat, you don't have to right now. I can wait."

"No," Katarina lightly shook her head. "You've waited long enough. You deserve to know everything."

Ashe lowered her lips onto Katarina's. At first, her lover was unresponsive, due to the circulation of fear, guilt and other emotions inside of her. In the end though, when Ashe had pulled away, half an inch away from Katarina's lips, Katarina's hands suddenly snaked around her neck and drew her back in for a much meaningful kiss.

Their lips moved against each other in perfect harmony, mainly due to all the time that they had done this certain dance. Truthfully, there was never a day that passed that Ashe never felt Katarina's warm lips against hers.

When they pulled away, leaving a thin and clear thread of saliva between them, which Katarina swiftly licked up, her lover spoke up.

"Where should I start?"

"Wherever you're comfortable with."

Katarina's hands had already loosened from her neck and was now fiddling with the a few white strands of her hair.

"I guess I should start with how I ended up with the Black Rose,"

"Start whenever you're ready."

Ashe felt Katarina lie on her chest before her girlfriend started the story of her past.

"I was six years old when I got my hands on a box of matches. When I was in that age, I sometimes see a house staff or one of my parents light a match. The way the fire sparked out from a little stick amazed me that time. I played with it and well, long story short, I ended up starting a fire all over the house. A house staff nearby had managed to save me and carry me out of the house before it got too bad. To add more bad luck, our fire alarm was busted that time, so the fire department wasn't alerted immediately."

Katarina unconsciously started curling up, but a kiss on the temple from Ashe stopped her from doing so.

"A few staff members risked their lives and saved my father, Cass and Tal, but..." Katarina choked on her own words. The redhead buried her face against Ashe's chest, arms abruptly looping around Ashe's torso.

Ashe rubbed Katarina's back with one hand to try and soothe her somewhat shaken form. She had already accepted the fact that Katarina may not be able to continue, and she isn't planning on prying anytime soon.

"The stairs collapsed, Ashe," Katarina spoke against her chest, voice muffled and sounding a bit cracked. "My mother was trapped at the second floor and... and... and...!"

She felt Katarina's right hand clutch the back of her hospital gown.

"I killed her, Ashe! She's dead because of me!"

"Kat..."

"I fucking killed her!"

They stayed in that position for a long moment. Katarina held against her, face buried in her torso. She didn't mind. If holding Katarina would bring her comfort, then hold her she shall. But then, something unexpected happened.

Katarina continued.

Her lover pulled her face back before just lying her head back onto her chest.

"I developed a fear of being alone, which is the main reason why I didn't tell you any details about my involvements and business at the Black Rose. I was afraid that you'll suddenly leave and I'll find myself heartbroken and... alone."

"I have no intentions of parting myself from you," She whispered in Katarina's red hair. "Wherever my heart is, that's where I intend to be."

Katarina slowly nodded, while Ashe wiped the tears that stained the redhead's face with one of her hands.

"You don't have to continue,"

"No, I want to continue. I need you to know everything."

"Katarina..."

"Please..." Katarina raised her head before moving upward, capturing Ashe's lips once again. The kiss was brief, but it did give Katarina a newfound will to continue.

"Alright," She murmured. "Continue, then."

"After my mother's death, I became distant from my family. I started leaving the house without anyone's knowledge and took long walks every night. One night, during one of my nightly walks, I witnessed Evaine slitting someone's throat. Ironically, I found her at a dark alley. Instead of killing me though, Evaine took me back with her at her personal residence. I was... impressed with how graceful she had murdered her target. I was a child, a curious one. I became curious with her job, and next thing I knew, every night, I visited Evaine. She taught me everything she knew about assassinating with blades. The night of my ninth birthday, she finally gave me my first assignment."

"The same assignment where you got your scar?"

"Yeah... After that, I took more and more missions, killed one target after another. Next thing I knew, I was eighteen, have one hell of a reputation as the _'Sinister Blade'_ , and, well... I met you." Katarina let out a breath. "That's me. That's my _'wonderful'_ past."

Ashe didn't know what to say, to be honest. She's not angry at Katarina, that's for sure. Actually, she's rather... proud of her lover. A past as dark and deep as this isn't easy to just open up to someone. Gazing down to her girlfriend, she stroked Katarina's eye scar with one finger and when she was halfway finished, Katarina turned away and lowered her head, hiding her face.

"I'm horrible." Katarina stated out of the blue.

"No, you're not."

"Yes, I am."

"Your curiosity got the best of you when you were a child. It's not your fault that you chose to be a hitwoman like LeBlanc."

"I don't deserve you, you know that?"

"How so?"

"You're beautiful, you're smart, you're absolutely perfect. And, I'm... I'm...-!"

"Perfectly imperfect." She finished for her lover.

"How do you do that?" Katarina questioned her.

"How do I do what?"

"How do you make me sound as if I'm actually desirable?"

"You're completely desirable." Ashe muttered lowly.

Katarina's gaze was suddenly on her, and she felt her face warm up when she realized what she had just vocalized.

"You think I'm desirable?"

"W-Well," She cleared her throat, feeling a bit flushed and self-conscious, especially with Katarina's intense gaze glued to her. "You ARE desirable. I mean, you look beautiful, you have strong-looking eyes, you're, you're great, you know."

"Any specific traits you'd like to point out?"

"Specific traits?"

"Mm-hm,"

"Umm, uh, you're, er, caring, and uh, loving, and...-!"

"What about in bed?"

"In-In-In bed?"

"Yeah,"

"Err, uh, b-by in bed, d-do you mean, you know..."

"Yes, Ashe. I'm referring to sex."

She felt the color on her cheeks become much more visible than before.

"O-Oh... I-I knew that..."

"So?"

"H-Huh?"

"Do I have any noticeable traits you can point out whenever we're having sex?"

"Umm, do I have to?"

"It'll make me feel better."

She tried shooting Katarina a sharp look, but as expected, failed miserably. "You're taking advantage of the situation, aren't you?"

Katarina smiled. "Is it that obvious?"

"Katarina."

"What? I just want to know what you think about my _'performances'_ under the sheets."

She knew that Katarina won't be letting the conversation be over with until she gave her girlfriend what she wants to know. It's not really a topic she would usually prefer discussing now, but if it meant Katarina would forget about the not so happy memories...

"Umm, well, ahem! I guess the way you kiss me, it's... exhilarating."

"It is?"

"Y-Yeah... And, umm, the way you touch my body..."

"Yeah...?"

Her face became much warmer. "It's absolutely... divine."

"What about when I use my fingers?"

Now Ashe is a hundred percent sure that her face must be as red as Katarina's hair.

"It's... It's wonderful. He-Heavenly, even."

"So, I somehow send you to some sort of Heaven-like place whenever I make you cum?"

"Must we have this conversation now?" She asked through her left palm, which is now on her face and is serving as a useless hiding place for her flushed face.

Without warning, Katarina reached up and pulled her hand away from her face. Ashe then was lightly pushed back on her slightly tilted bed by her lover while said female crawled upward. It was too fast for Ashe's mind to keep up. In a flash, Katarina was comfortably perched on her lap.

"I want you."

"K-K-Kat! Y-You can't be serious! We're...! We're at a hospital!" She sputtered out.

"We're in a private room, aren't we?"

Katarina swiftly shrugged her leather jacket off, leaving her in her black fitted crop top. She discarded her jacket by throwing it off the bed and somewhere over her shoulder.

 _ **Click!**_

Talon was halfway inside the room when he abruptly halted, his gaze landing on the two females on the hospital bed. Katarina casually looked over her shoulder, while Ashe panicked.

"T-T-Talon! This...! This isn't what it looks like!"

"Can you give us minute?" Katarina asked, not even making a move in leaving her perch.

"Cass and Father will be here in thirty minutes." Talon informed her before exiting the room again, closing the door with an audible click.

"Well, you heard, Tal," Katarina turned back to Ashe, who now looks very flustered. "We have thirty minutes."

"B-B-But...-!"

 **xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx**

Katarina didn't bother letting Ashe finish. She reached forward and pulled Ashe in a searing kiss, catching the Avarosa with her mouth open. She slipped her tongue inside Ashe's mouth with ease, massaging Ashe's own tongue with it.

Ashe's tongue didn't move.

She pulled away, leaving only a few inches as space between her and Ashe.

"No?"

"What if... What if someone catches us?" Ashe asked, looking a bit nervous and a bit, well, aroused. Katarina almost smirked when she saw the small gleam of lust and desire in Ashe's eyes.

"Trust me, Talon won't let that happen."

"But, Kat...-!"

"Please? I really need this."

It's true though. Katarina does need it. She had almost lost Ashe because of Sarah, so she currently desires to make love with Ashe, regardless of the location they're presently in right now. All she yearns for now is to feel Ashe's perfect body underneath her very own fingertips.

Ashe bit her lip for a moment before finally nodding. "Fine..."

Katarina placed a kiss on the tip of Ashe's nose.

"Thank you."

Ashe smiled, but the smile didn't last long. Katarina covered Ashe's lips again with her own, her hands undoing the buttons on the back of Ashe's hospital gown. Once she removed the them all, she drew back and tugged the clothing off of her girlfriend, tossing it at the foot of the bed, not like how she treated her jacket, which she carelessly threw to the side.

Much to her surprise though, Ashe grabbed the hem of her top and began tugging on it. Willingly, she let Ashe undress her. It would only be fair, after all. Her beautiful girlfriend is left in nothing but her undergarments, and her? She's still wearing her pants, which is considered, in her opinion, a mortal sin in that very moment.

While Ashe unhooked the clasp of her bra, she unbuckled her belt, chucking it aside as soon as she pulled it out of its belt loops. As soon as she felt her bra loosen, she slipped it off and threw it to a random direction.

"Mmm..." Katarina laid her head back and showed more of her neck as she clutched the back of Ashe's head as her lover licked up from her collarbone to her throat.

She felt Ashe's hands wander. First, it was on her hips, the next, it was unbuttoning her pants. The sound of the zipper being pulled down followed and echoed throughout the quiet room, along with it were her low hums of approval and moans of ecstasy.

"Ashe..."

Katarina let out a breath as Ashe pushed her backwards. She ended up lying down on the sheets, while Ashe kneeled between her legs. With her uninjured hand, Ashe yanked her already-unbuttoned pants off of her, flinging it to the side without an inch of care. Next clothing that was removed from her were her panties, which then left her all bare and completely stark naked in front of her girlfriend, who is only clad in her own bra and panties. Katarina then pondered for a moment about about fully undressing her not so covered lover.

"You need this?" Ashe asked her, the pace of her breathing a tad bit unsteady.

"Yes..." She breathed out. "I do..."

Much to her surprise, and absolute sexual delight, Ashe moved back and crouched between her thighs. Katarina clutched the white sheets as she felt Ashe gently plant kiss on her right inner thigh, lips latching onto the skin and sucking steadily. She bit her bottom lip as the sexual anticipation built up inside of her.

Ashe would kiss, lick and suck on her inner thighs, but her lover's lips doesn't seem to reach her wanted mark. When a few more seconds passed without Ashe touching her aching womanhood, Katarina resorted in asking for it verbally.

"Ashe, please..."

"Please what?" Ashe asked, lips moving against skin of her thigh as her lover spoke.

"Please, just do it..."

"Do what?"

 _'She's teasing me now? Of all times...! Damn it, Ashe!'_

"Well, Kat?"

Unconsciously, one of hers hands, specifically her right, moved downward and tried to touch herself to ease a bit of the burning heat between her legs. Unfortunately for her, Ashe intercepted her hand with one of her own.

"Tell me what you want, Katarina,"

Katarina suppressed a shudder when she felt Ashe's breath against her own rather wet pussy. Instead of verbalizing what she wants to be done, she thrusted her hip down in an attempt to grind against Ashe's lips, but all she got was nothing.

She whimpered at that.

Ashe _finally_ took pity in her and decided to give her what she's been craving for. Katarina nearly jumped as soon as she felt Ashe's lips against her heat, nipping at her sensitive clit.

"Ahh...-!"

The pleasure vanished for a moment when Ashe pulled her lips back, and it caused Katarina to groan at the loss.

"Ash...-ah!"

Katarina quickly covered her mouth after she had released an unintentionally loud yelp of surprise. Ashe leaned over her and pressed their chests against each other, one hand perched on the right side of her head and the other still between her legs, two finger halfway buried inside her throbbing core. She breathed unevenly as she stared with lust-filled eyes into Ashe's darkened ceruleans.

"Patience is a virtue, Kitty Kat."

"Fuck patience..." She grunted out, attempting to rock her hips and fully sheathe Ashe's fingers.

 _ **Tap!**_

"Language, please." Ashe whispered, a small mischievous smile appearing on her girlfriend's tempting lips.

"Oh, come on, Ashe," She whined breathlessly. "We only have less than thirty minutes before Cass and Father gets here."

Ashe sighed dramatically, placing a kiss on her forehead. "Fine,"

"Oh, oh, God!" Katarina abruptly lifted her back off the bed and wound her arms around Ashe's neck tightly, feeling her lover's fingers finally fully enter her.

"Careful with my shoulder," Ashe murmured, chuckling at her sudden excitement.

"J-Just...! Just move...!"

Ashe moved her head until Katarina felt a pair of lips latched onto her neck, lightly sucking and nipping. She clasped one hand on the back of Ashe's head, biting her bottom lip and rocking her hips against Ashe's thrusting fingers.

"Mmm, uhh... Yeah, that's...! That's it...!"

The metal frame of the bed creaked lowly as the two forms on top of it got lost in their own sexual moment. Katarina took interest in Ashe's right ear, lips sucking on it for a moment before her tongue darted out and started licking every part she could reach.

A low sound of squishing and squelching can actually be heard if Katarina's moans and groans of ecstasy were to be muted. Katarina's completely sure that her dripping pre-cum are already staining the sheets. She could feel Ashe's thrusting pace quicken in each passing second, and it's successfully sending her closer and closer to the edge of her desired orgasm.

"Oh, oh, oh, ahh...! Faster, Ashe...!"

Ashe replied with a light bite on her neck, which made her scream out in pleasure for a moment. Add that to the sensation of Ashe's talented fingers and the pleasurable feeling of her nipples brushing up against Ashe's chest, well...

It's almost pure heaven for Katarina.

She, in the back of her mind, cursed and damned herself for not taking at least a few seconds to remove Ashe's bra earlier. Maybe if she did, she would be in some sort of pleasurable rapture by now.

"Ah...! Ah...! Ahh...! Oh, fuck!"

Her clutch at Ashe's hair tightened in a death-like grip as soon as she felt Ashe's thumb suddenly flicker and rapidly rub her already swollen clit. Both of her legs wrapped around Ashe's waist as her toes curled. She could feel her whole orgasm consume her whole, making her see white for a moment.

"Ohh...! Ashe...!"

Katarina's walls tightened around Ashe's fingers like never before, her sweet essence coating the two digits and her lover's knuckles as she finally reached her peak. Ashe attempted to pull her finger out and thrust it back in and succeeded, letting Katarina ride her climax out. Slowly, Ashe thrusted her fingers in Katarina's significantly tight and moist walls, more and more cum practically pouring out of Katarina's pussy.

Finally, after a few seconds of lazy thrusting of her hips, Katarina's womanhood relaxed, and her whole body loosened until she fell back onto the bed again. Ashe remained on her knees though, watching her with piercing eyes.

Katarina breathed in and out in a slightly unsteady pace, her chest visibly heaving up and down, while her eyes looking into Ashe's blue ones. Her girlfriend seems to be also a tad bit out of breath, but is more... composed than her.

"Thank you..." She breathed out, smiling a little exhaustedly.

Ashe smiled, looking mildly tired as well. "You're very welcome."

She opened her arms for Ashe, who then leaned down carefully and accepted her embrace, their lips instantly meeting and eyes swiftly drifting close. Unlike their usual wild and messy kisses, this current kiss of their was slow and rather lazy, probably due to their recent session of love-making. Her hands played around in Ashe's soft white hair, brushing through and fingertips rubbing against her lover's scalp gently.

"Let me return the favor..." She whispered between their kiss.

"Mmm, I'd love that...-!"

 _ **Knock! Knock! Knock!**_

They both stilled, eyes snapping open and bodies freezing at the moment.

"Katarina, Ashe," Came Talon's muffled, but understandable, voice. "They're on their way up."

The whole room fell silent, the sound of the ticking clock serving as the only noise within.

 _ **Tick!**_

 _ **Tock!**_

 _ **Tick!**_

 _ **Tock!**_

 _ **Tick!**_

 _ **Toc...-!**_

"We have to get dressed!" Ashe frantically got off of her, quickly snatching her discarded gown at the end of the bed.

It took maybe a second or two more before the situation completely registered in Katarina's still recovering train of thought. She got up and off the bed, practically scavenging for her clothes. As soon as she slipped her panties on and clasped her bra securely, she slipped her leather pants on with mild difficulty, her crop top being the next clothing to follow. She was just about to grab her jacket from the floor when Ashe called for her assistance.

"Katarina, button me up, please?"

She took her gaze away from her jacket and directed it to her girlfriend, whose back is facing her. When her eyes focused onto Ashe, both of her eyeballs nearly bulged out of its sockets. Ashe had her back facing her, yes, but the fact that her almost see-through panties serving as the only coverage for her shapely rear almost gave Katarina a nosebleed.

"Are you trying to get us all dressed or are you actually seducing me right now?"

"Katarina," Ashe scoldingly said, shooting her a look over her shoulder. "Your father and your sister will be here any moment!"

"Oh, right."

She dashed towards Ashe and swiftly started buttoning the hospital gown close, finishing in just a few blinks.

"Thank you," Ashe thanked, turning around and giving her a quick peck on the cheek before spinning back and facing the bed again.

But then...

Katarina was presented the most perfect opportunity...

 _ **Slap!**_

To slap Ashe's ass.

Ashe yelped in surprise, instantly whipping her attention back to her.

"What was that for?" Ashe asked with a flushed face and a slightly open mouth.

She shrugged nonchalantly. "A slap on the ass, what else?"

Truthfully, inside of her, a _'chibi'_ version of herself was celebrating and pumping one of its cute little hands in accomplishment. Katarina absolutely likes slapping the ass she loves and adores so much.

 _'That's one thing I've crossed out of my bucket list over and over again.'_

Ashe gave her a look of disbelief and was about to speak when...

 _ **Click!**_

Katarina snapped back to attention, rushing back to her jacket and immediately wearing it. Surprisingly, when she looked back to her lover, Ashe was already back on the hospital bed, sheets covering everything below the upper half of her stomach and looking utterly calm as if nothing steamy had happened between them.

Her eyes widened in realization when it landed on the messy hair Ashe currently has. Alas, it was too late for her, or Ashe, to fix it, for the door had opened and her father, along with her two siblings, walked into the room. Her father gave her a greeting nod before focusing his gaze onto Ashe.

"Ashe,"

"Good evening, sir."

"What did I say about formalities?"

"Oh, um," Ashe blushed lightly in embarrassment. "I mean, Uncle."

While they conversed, Katarina casually walked back to the hospital bed and sat on the vacant space at Ashe's right, the same spot where she sat at earlier.

"Are you feeling alright now?" Marcus inquired.

"Yes, I am. The bullet wound isn't fatal, so I'm quite fine now."

"I see,"

Feeling a bit mischievous, Katarina inconspicuously snuck her left hand underneath the blanket and snaked it between Ashe's legs. She resisted the urge to smirk when Ashe suddenly became rigid.

"What about your sprain?"

"M-M-My what?" Ashe stuttered as Katarina pressed two fingers against the damp cloth of her underwear.

Of course it would be damp, Katarina expected it. After all, she was the only one who had an orgasm. Katarina wasn't able to return the pleasurable favor to Ashe like she had originally planned to.

Well, she's about to return it now.

"Your sprain," Marcus repeated. "It's not hurting anymore?"

"Hurting? Sprain? I, um, yeah,"

Cassiopeia raised her eyebrows. "It's hurting?"

"What? No! No, no, not at all," Ashe uneasily laughed.

Katarina continued rubbing her finger against the damp lace until she could feel Ashe's wetness seep through the awfully thin material.

"It's fine, then?" Cassiopeia suggested, which earned a quick nod from Ashe.

Katarina pushed Ashe's panties to the side...

"Y-Yes, it's..."

...and pushed both of her fingers inside with one thrust.

"... _fine!_ " Ashe abruptly completed her reply in a sudden shout, the bandaged hand slamming down to the side and the right one clenching tightly.

Katarina almost wanted to laugh at Ashe's reactions.

"Are you sure you are alright?" Marcus asked, internally worried.

"Huh? Uh, yeah, yes, never been better," Ashe forced out her answers with a nervous smile.

"What was that about?" Cassiopeia queried.

"Oh, it's, um, a small jolt of pain, in my, you know," Ashe feebly gestured at her recently stitched wound. "Shoulder."

"Why is your hair like that?" Cassiopeia questioned abruptly, eyeing the mess of white strands Ashe refers to as her hair.

Katarina started moving her fingers in and out of Ashe's womanhood, internally enjoying the wet feeling around her fingers.

"Oh, uhh, it-it is?" Ashe stuttered yet again, finding difficulty in speaking straight.

"Yeah."

"Oh, umm, uhh..."

Katarina pulled her finger out and promptly pinched Ashe's clit, rolling it between her fingers in a fast pace.

"Windy!" Ashe practically yelled. "Yes, windy! It was very windy!"

"Windy?"

"Y-Yes! It was, _mmm_ , very windy!"

Katarina felt absolutely amused.

 _'Did she just moan out loud?'_

"Umm, Ashe, are you okay?" This time, Cassiopeia's voice showed her skepticism.

"O-O-Of course! Why wouldn't I b-be...-oh my God..."

Ashe settled on burying her face in her hands, while Katarina continued pleasuring her beneath the sheets. Despite the turn of circumstances, Katarina continuously toyed with Ashe's sensitive clit and fingered her relentlessly.

"She's been experiencing cramps lately," Katarina explanined calmly. "It's probably nothing."

Beside her, she could hear Ashe's breathing becoming more and more ragged with each thrust her fingers made. She took her fingers out and quickly rubbed Ashe's clit, causing her girlfriend to spill a few more pre-cum and nearly make her squirm visibly.

"Ahem," Talon successfully called Marcus and Cassiopeia's attention. "Father, maybe you should check with Ashe's doctor about her release."

Marcus thought about it for a moment before nodding. "If you'd all excuse me, then, I shall speak with the doctor about your release and what care Ashe may need if she's back at home."

"Cass, we should get Ashe and Katarina something to eat."

"Hmm, good idea."

Katarina left Ashe's highly-sensitive clit and swiftly shoved her fingers back inside her drenched womanhood, hilting her digits, which instantly caused Ashe's core to tighten pleasurably, the warm cum of her girlfriend rushing out in a heartbeat. Ashe tensed and trembled for a few seconds before her shoulders slackened.

The grand general, completely oblivious with what had just happened, left the hospital room first and as soon as he did...!

"Fucking hell, Katarina!"

Cassiopeia threw her clutch purse at her and before she knew it, the small bag had collided with her head.

"Can you stop fingering Ashe in front of us!?"

 **xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx**

 **Author's Note** : _I hope all of you enjoyed the adult scenes and parts in this chapter. :P_

 _Tell me what you think about it? :D_

 _The sex scene was requested by a friend of mine, so here it is, friend!_

 _I won't mention my friend's name, since, well, my friend wants to keep him/herself anonymous. :3_


	5. Chapter 5

**ACT 5**

Katarina scratched the back of her head as she walked into the main headquarters of the Black Rose, her mind on autopilot as she headed to LeBlanc's office. Ashe had just gotten out of the hospital yesterday and when they got home, Ashe denied her request for sex.

Yes, it was bluntly denied.

She sensed that Ashe still seems to be somewhat angry at her for doing what she had done at the hospital. She has no one but herself to blame for being too bold with her actions, but she didn't really regret pleasuring Ashe that time, even if the timing wasn't the greatest. Every moment with Ashe is always a memory for her to treasure and forever remember. She plans on giving her late monthsary gift later on, since she assumed that Ashe must have _'cooled down'_ enough.

Before she left the estate though, she had told her father that she 'thinks' that Sarah might come back for Ashe to finish the job. Actually, she damn well knows that she'll be seeing the Bounty Hunter again in the near future.

Thanks to her father's power in the military, Ashe is currently going around the Institute of War with the grand general, two soldiers trailing behind them and serving as Ashe's own bodyguards.

Katarina was thankful for that. At least while she's going to be chasing down whoever it is the person that's hiring to kill Ashe, she can travel and _'work'_ with a somewhat calm mind, knowing her girlfriend is safe and won't be harmed.

She decided not to tell her father about her involvement with the Black Rose. To be honest, her father knows nothing about her connection with Evaine and the dangerous organization. In her opinion, it would probably complicate things, mostly for her.

Yes, she knows her father, a high ranking general, can use his military position to pull some strings to try and track down who posted the five million dollar bounty for Ashe to be killed. But, she also knows that her father would probably take her off the situation and won't let her participate in the process.

 _That_ is something Katarina won't stand for. She wants to catch the mastermind and kill him or her with her own bare hands, and maybe a helping hand from her blades.

 **xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx**

Ashe walked just a step behind Marcus, two soldiers holding two assault rifles walking on either side of hers. As she followed the grand general through the wide halls of the Institute of War, she can't help but feel a little conscious with herself. She regretted letting Cassiopeia choose her outfit for today.

Currently, she donned a pair of denim high-waisted shorts, a fitted white shirt tucked in, a matching jean jacket and a pair of dark blue combat boots. Her shorts, obviously, presented her pale and long legs to every pair of eyes that wandered downward. Also, the cropped jacket is fitted and is useless in concealing her rather noticeable bust.

"Ashe,"

She snapped her gaze to the general, who had abruptly spoke up and called for her attention.

"Yes, Uncle?"

"As much as possible, keep that jacket of yours on."

"Oh, of, of course!" Honestly, Ashe has no intention of removing her jacket from her body anytime soon.

"The men here, despite their disciplined selves, are not quite... immune to females like you."

"Like... me?"

"I'm sure you've noticed most of the soldiers are men."

"Yes, I have."

"Note that most of them, if not married, are single and are... craving for a woman's touch."

"O-oh," She blushed lightly. "I see..."

"Umm, Uncle? May... May I ask a question?"

"What is it?"

Ashe picked up her pace a bit until she was walking alongside Marcus and matching his own walking pace.

"Most people that we pass, they, erm, usually stare. Is that normal here?"

"No."

"Oh, so, uh, why...?"

"They are curious."

"Curious?"

"Hm," Marcus nodded once. "You are the first person I brought to work with me that's not a family member."

"Oh."

Ashe rubbed her arm, showing off a sign of her mild nervousness. She actually preferred being with Katarina, despite the dangers that currently lurks in every corner they encounter. Well, that's how Katarina worded it, which is why she's with the grand general.

Although, she found herself internally worrying about Katarina, knowing her girlfriend must be out there, probably planning on catching whoever it is that wants her dead. If she were to actually decide for herself, she would have accompanied Katarina in her _'hunt'_.

As they walked, Ashe lagged two steps behind the general before pulling her cellphone out and opening her message thread with Katarina. After a quick glance casted to the general, she focused her gaze back to her phone's screen and began typing, sending her composed message immediately.

 **Ashe** : _Where are you right now?_ _Are you okay?_

The reply didn't take long. In fact, she had just exited the _'Messages'_ app, when she received a response, which she viewed in an instant.

 **Katarina** : _At the Black Rose. I'm fine, don't worry._

Another reply came.

 **Katarina** : _Are you still mad?_

She shook her head as she read the message, a small smile appearing on her lips.

 **Ashe** : _Not anymore._

 **Katarina** : _I'll make it up to you later, I promise._

She was just about to type up her next text, when Katarina sent another one of hers.

 **Katarina** : _Got to go. About to talk to Evaine. See you later. I love you. :*_

Ashe chuckled into one of her hands when she saw the emoticon in her lover's message. With a smile present, she typed her reply to the cute message.

 **Ashe** : _I love you too. ^3^_

 **Katarina** : _Can you do that face when we see each other later? :3_

 **Ashe** : _Not gonna happen, Kitty. :P_

"Texting Katarina, I assume?"

She snapped her head upward and saw Marcus looking over his shoulder and looking at her, a smirk threatening to show on his face.

"Umm, how did you know?"

"Your smile says it all."

Ashe blushed when she realized that her small smile had actually turned into a full-blown one, making it obvious that she's quite happy with who she's chatting with.

"I want to go to her." She murmured, toying with her cellphone by rolling the gadget around her grasp.

"You very well know why she wanted you to come with me." Marcus said, halting his walk and facing her directly.

"I do," She sighed. "But, now that I know what she's currently doing, being apart from her only worries me more."

Marcus furrowed his eyebrows. "What _is_ she doing?"

Ashe became rigid. She so badly wanted to give herself a slap. She knows that Marcus doesn't have a single clue about Katarina's relation with the Black Rose.

"She's at school today, so why are you worried, then?"

"Oh, um," Ashe laughed nervously. "I'm just worried that she might get into a fight or something of that sort."

Marcus gave her a skeptical look, but thankfully let her unusual behaviour slide. Ashe could thank the Heavens for letting such miracle happen. She isn't really fond of lying to people, especially to someone she considers like a family. As if her silent prayer was answered, a soldier came and took Marcus' full attention from her. She resisted the urge to sigh in relief.

Turning away, she held her phone against her beating heart.

 _'Be safe, Katarina.'_

She bit her bottom lip in worry.

 _'While you're scared to be the reason my heart will stop beating, know that I'm scared that I'll be the reason why **your** heart stops beating.'_

 **xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx**

Katarina scanned the file for the third time before looking back up to LeBlanc, who calmly sipped from her glass of wine.

"All of this is accurate?"

"Yes," LeBlanc nodded. "One of my contacts traced the signal of the message back to that location."

"Alright then, I'll go check this out now."

Katarina stood up and turned to the door, folder in hand and intending to leave the room without anymore distractions.

But, LeBlanc seems to have different plans.

"Katarina,"

Suppressing a groan, she turned back to the older woman. LeBlanc was already standing from her chair when Katarina faced her again.

"What?"

LeBlanc approached her and stopped just in front of her.

"Be careful."

Katarina raised an eyebrow.

 _'That's it? She calls me back just to tell me to 'be careful'?'_

"Something you want to tell me, Evaine?" She asked, becoming a bit wary towards the other female.

"Well, since you asked..." LeBlanc straightened her posture. "I don't want you to die."

"What, because you'll lose your number one assassin?"

"If I were to be followed, then I would actually dismiss your services with the Black Rose now."

"What brought this up?" Katarina asked, narrowing her eyes.

"Katarina," LeBlanc placed both of her hands on her shoulders. "When I found you, all I saw in your eyes were rage, sadness and bloodlust. But now? Honestly, all I can see is happiness."

"What are you getting at?"

"Quit the Black Rose, Katarina."

Katarina blinked.

 _'Did I hear right?'_

She couldn't believe what LeBlanc had just said. It's the complete opposite of LeBlanc's number one rule in the organization. Once a person gets involved with the Black Rose, that specific person can never leave or ever be free from the clutches of the organization itself.

"Evaine, I think you've drank enough wine for today." She finally said after a moment of silence.

"Katarina, I'm serious." LeBlanc returned, looking at her with a humorless gaze. "You find the person who wants to kill Ashe and kill whoever it is. After that, quit."

"You want me to quit?" She questioned with disbelief. "Me? After more than five years of spending almost all my time with the Black Rose, you want me to just quit?"

"I don't want you to quit. I need you to quit."

"Why?"

"The longer you involve yourself with this group, the more you are risking the life of, not only yours and your family's, but Ashe's as well."

Katarina looked down, knowing that LeBlanc's words made sense. Black Rose is danger and death combined. From the very start, she knew this.

"I know that if Ashe dies because of someone you had angered in the past, you will never forgive yourself."

She scoffed half-heartedly. "Afraid I'll come after you if that happens?"

"No," LeBlanc let go of her shoulders. "If that ever happens, then I will willingly let you kill me."

"As if I'd believe that."

"There's only one person I see worthy taking my life,"

Katarina raised her head and met LeBlanc's eyes, and for the first time in her whole life, she found sorrow in her the woman's bronze eyes. It's an emotion she never thought she'd personally see.

"And that's you."

"Why me?"

She had to ask. Deep inside of herself, she had this desire to know the reason why she's the only person LeBlanc would let her murder, well, her. As if the sadness in LeBlanc's eyes weren't enough of a surprise, LeBlanc sincerely smiled at her.

"I see you as the daughter I will never have."

Katarina didn't know how to react, truthfully. She felt a bit... weird inside. She felt fuzzy and a little... warm in her heart. She looked down again, still not knowing what to say or do.

"That's also the reason why I need you to quit the Black Rose,"

Half-hesitantly, she raised her gaze, meeting LeBlanc's own.

"I don't want to see my daughter die."

Looking back on her memories for what seemed like a nanosecond, she knows that LeBlanc had shown her an outlet where she released all the anger and fury she felt towards the world when she was a child, despite the said outlet being... unusual. But, now that she looked closely, she realized that, the closest person that she can actually consider as a mother, when her biological mother died, is LeBlanc.

No one else.

No else, but Emilia Evaine LeBlanc.

"I'll leave the Black Rose after this."

LeBlanc nodded, turning away and heading back to her desk. "Good."

"But,"

"But?" The older woman halted but didn't look back.

"I'm not leaving my mother."

A lone tear ran down from one of LeBlanc's eyes, unknown to Katarina.

"You of all people know where I live, so I expect you to visit at least once a month."

Katarina smirked to herself as she turned away and resumed her walk to the door.

"Make it once a week, _'Mommy'_."

With that, she reached the door and left the office.

 **xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx**

Katarina took off her sunglasses and let go of the handles of her motorcycle as she audited the outer appearance of an abandoned two-story building with a top to bottom scan. This is the same location where the signal of the message was tracked, which is the main reason why Katarina's there now.

"To think the person's able to pay five million dollars. Can't even find a decent hiding place." She muttered as she parked her vehicle in a small and narrow alley.

She made sure to check all of her holsters, which is where her knives are stored in, before she approached the dilapidated structure.

 _'Well, if it's really abandoned, might as well check whatever it is inside.'_

Instead of entering the building through the front door, she went around and climbed the half-destroyed fire-exit at the back. Once she scaled it, she easily got inside through a typically broken window.

The room she found herself in was empty. That is, if she doesn't count the ripped and stained carpet and the broken three-legged chair leaning on one of the dirty walls. The whole room smelled like shit, and Katarina had to stop herself from gagging at the smell.

 _'The sooner I finish looking around, the sooner I can leave this dump.'_

She soundlessly left the room and checked the one across from it, finding nothing but a vacant and, as she expected, stinky room. She searched the whole second floor, finding nothing relevant for her little investigation. Seeing that the second floor is useless, she snuck down the stairs.

Katarina kept her guard up and maintained her stealthy movements, not wanting to cause the person inside the apartment to flee, if there is one inside, that is.

She checked the kitchen.

Nothing.

The bathroom.

Nothing.

The living room...

Katarina narrowed her eyes when she spotted a brand new-looking laptop perched on an old and worn-out table. The appearance of this certain gadget aroused her suspicions, so she instantly drew one knife and kept her senses on high-alert. As she inched towards the tech, she got a much clearer look at the screen of it.

It displayed a picture.

A picture of her and Ashe casually sitting at one of the couches at the living room of the Du Couteau estate. It seems whoever had captured the photo merely peeped through one of the living room windows.

What caught her attention though, was the fact that a sloppily-drawn red line was encircling her. She assumed that whoever edited the pic had used the laptop's 'Paint' application. Underneath the pic, messily drawn words can be seen.

 **GOT YOU**

"What the...-!"

The laptop's screen suddenly became pitch black.

 _ **Creak!**_

Katarina spun around and instantly shoved the knife she held in the stomach of the person that had snuck behind her. The attacker was just a rugged-looking man, a goon, to be specific.

But, of course, he wasn't the only one there.

Another man came and lunged at her, only to get a knife thrown at the center of his forehead. Katarina dodged another goon's assault, using two of her knives this time to slit the attacker's throat in an X-motion.

Blood spurted out, but she wasn't in front of the man to get stained. In fact, she was already killing the next one, which she eliminated out of the equation with a simple stab at the bottom of its jaw.

Unexpectedly, a man came up and charged from behind her, while she was stabbing a different person. The surprise attacker secured his arms around her, limiting her movements greatly.

"Fucking get off...-!"

Before she could kick or at least headbutt the guy away...-!

 _ **Clank!**_

The back of her very own head was suddenly surging with absolute pain. The man she recently stabbed pushed her down the floor, and she ended up crashing onto the surface sloppily.

Whatever had hit her, she assumed it was a pole or a pipe, it had disoriented her senses immensely. Her vision became a bit blurry, the back of her head throbbed and an agonizing headache formed inside of her head.

She rolled halfway to the left and halfway to the right every now and then, while she used one hand to touch the spot where she was hit. When her fingers touched the spot where the blunt weapon had hit, it sent a jolt of pain through her head, which increased the pain she currently felt.

"Too easy."

In spite of her blurred line of vision, she found an older woman practically strutting in circles around her fallen self. The said woman smirked at her, twirling a black steel pole in a moderate speed.

"Not so tough now, are you?"

She then felt a foot collide with her back, sending a painful surge throughout her body.

"Agh!"

The woman chuckled. "Anything you'd like to say, Katarina?"

She received a few kicks on the stomach and back before she managed to regain her breath...

Only for it to get knocked back out of her system yet again.

Her supply of oxygen rushed out of her as soon as a hard kick landed on the very center of her stomach. Despite being out of air, she still managed to utter two words.

"Fuck... you..."

A low growl was what she heard before she lost her consciousness, courtesy of the rough kick on the face she received from Ashe's one and only stepmother.

Sierra Avarosa.

 **xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx**

 **Author's Note** : _Let's face it, all of you totally expected Sierra to be the mastermind. That's certainly no secret. :P_

 _Well! I think this story will at least reach ten or fifteen chapters. Not sure yet, though. I mean, this story might even end at ACT 7 or ACT 9 or whatever. __

 _Honestly, when I started "I Won't Give Up", I didn't originally plan to make a sequel of it, soooo yeah, hopefully, this goes well. :)_

 _And, yes, I admit, this part is sort of like a half-filler. :3_


	6. Chapter 6

**ACT 6**

Ashe drew random lines and shapes on a piece of paper on her lap, blowing a few stray strands of hair away from her face. It's already seven o'clock in the evening and Marcus is still in a meeting with the board of the Institute, which has been going on for more than an hour. Right now, she's at the grand general' office, doing nothing but doodle at a sheet of paper that was once clean and blank.

She sighed, putting the pencil down and laying back on the backrest of the black leather sofa she's currently sitting on. Pulling her cellphone out, she internally hoped that Katarina had sent a message to her. Her worry may have had died down earlier, but now, it seems to have come back and made its appearance known. With a mildly deep breath, she opened her phone.

Sadly, Katarina hadn't sent a single text to her. It made her worry rise more, but she pushed it as much as she can at the back of her mind and decided to open her message thread with her girlfriend and send a text of her own.

 **Ashe** : _Will you be home for dinner?_

Send.

She can't help but shake her head at her message. _'How cliché, Ashe. How cliché.'_

After sending her little message, she pushed her phone back inside her pocket and stood up from her perch. She walked towards the nearest window, which currently has the blinds down. She found it rather useless for the blinds to be down, since there's not a hint of sunlight that can shine through the window.

She took the string of the blinds at the side and tugged it downward, pulling the blinds up and finally revealing a nice view of the training area of the Institute. The tall outdoor lights were open and gave light to all the soldiers that are still training, some practicing their shooting skills and some are running through the difficult obstacle course.

For a moment, Ashe distractedly watched the men train, until...

Her eyebrows furrowed when she spotted someone walking at the gap between the barracks and the main building of the Institute. She squinted her eyes to get a better look at whoever it is, and much to her surprise...!

"LeBlanc?" She whispered to the air, eyes slightly widening in surprise.

From a distance, she watched for a moment as LeBlanc spoke with what looked like a high-ranking military officer, both parties donning serious expressions.

 _'What is she doing here?'_

 _ **Buzz! Buzz!**_

Ashe's hand wandered to her pocket and pulled her phone back out, taking her gaze away from LeBlanc as soon as the screen lit up.

 **1 New Message**

 **From** : _Katarina_

 **Subject** : _(None)_

LeBlanc instantly left her thoughts, for all her undivided attention was suddenly directed to the newly received message from her girlfriend. She didn't think much of the subject line being blank, knowing Katarina always leaves it blank. She tapped the message with her thumb, instantly opening the text.

 **Katarina** : _Won't be there for dinner, sorry. With Evaine right now._

Her eyebrows furrowed in confusion. _'With Evaine?'_

Raising her head back up again, she found LeBlanc just finishing on wrapping up whatever business she has with the military officer, Katarina nowhere in sight, which greatly confused her. Instead of typing up a message that would confront Katarina about her recently sent one, Ashe decided to not reply and turn away from the window, storing her phone back into her pocket. She rushed towards the door and immediately exited the office, only to be stopped by the two soldiers she had forgotten about.

"Oh, umm, I'm just going to use the restroom." She lied with a somewhat sheepish smile.

The two soldiers exchanged a quick glance with each other before turning back to her, one of them speaking up.

"Shall we accompany you, Miss Avarosa?"

"No, no," She laughed rather uneasily. "No need for that, I'm just going to be quick."

After three seconds worth of thinking made by the two men, they finally bought her lie and let her proceed down the hall without them tailing her. Once Ashe turned around a corner and was out of the men's sights, she immediately broke out into a sprint.

In just a few seconds, she got to the 'Authorized Personnel Only' door, which she knows that leads to the same location where she had spotted LeBlanc a moment ago. With a quick twist, she pushed it open and dashed outside the building...!

"Oof!"

Before she could fall down, the person she had just bumped into grabbed her right arm, which caused her to snap her gaze to the said person. Cerulean met bronze, and she instantly knew who it is.

"H-Hi..." She greeted in a slightly awkward manner, even adding a small wave of a hand.

"Good evening to you as well, Avarosa." LeBlanc greeted her back, keeping her facial expression fully composed.

"M-Miss Avarosa!?"

Ashe turned to her left and found the officer LeBlanc was conversing with earlier, looking tense and a bit panicked.

"Leave us, officer," LeBlanc ordered with a wave of a hand. "She and I have something to discuss."

"Oh, umm, but...-!"

"Relax, boy. She knows who I _truly_ am."

Ashe watched as the officer halted his words and just settled in nodding before he uttered a quick excuse and made his swift escape. After the man left, LeBlanc placed a hand on her back and led her down the pathway.

"I'm quite sure you are currently wondering what I'm doing here,"

"Slightly, yes."

"Slightly? Not fully?"

"I'm sort of more curious where Katarina is." She said, letting her worry show on her face.

"What, she didn't tell you where she's at now?"

"She did," One of her hands wandered to her right pocket, where her phone is currently in. "That's why I'm asking you."

LeBlanc quirked an eyebrow. "I believe I don't follow."

She pulled her phone out and unlocked it with a quick swipe of a finger, revealing her opened message thread with Katarina.

"She just messaged me, told me she's with you right now."

In a blink of an eye, her phone was out of her grasp and was in LeBlanc's. The older woman's eyes scanned the message Katarina had just sent her, a neutral expression on her face.

But then, the neutrality on LeBlanc's face disappeared.

Ashe nearly didn't catch her phone when LeBlanc abruptly tossed it to her without warning. Once she got a good and much secure clutch on her phone, she turned her attention back to LeBlanc...

Who was now at least a meter away from her, and getting farther with each second she took in not moving from her spot.

"Hey, wait!"

She fast-walked after LeBlanc and caught up with the other female in no time.

"Where's Katarina?"

"That is the question, isn't it?" LeBlanc spoke in a flat tone, her expression clearly telling every onlooker that she is not to be messed with.

"Wait a minute, what are you talking about?"

"My point is, Ashe, Katarina is not with me. She was, but that was earlier morning."

Her eyes widened. "What? But she just said...-!"

"I know." LeBlanc gritted out. "Obviously, something's not right."

"What do you mean? Is Katarina alright?"

They rounded around a corner, and...!

The two of them halted, and so did their conversation.

"Miss LeBlanc," Marcus greeted formally with a small nod.

LeBlanc, instead of being nervous or anything of that sort, merely straightened up and flashed a sarcastic smile at the general.

"General Du Couteau,"

"Oh, um, hello, Uncle..." Ashe herself greeted a tad bit uneasily.

"I'd love to stay and chat, but I have somewhere to be."

LeBlanc made a motion in walking past the general, only to have one of the man's hands clasp onto her right shoulder and stop her from continuing forth.

"Where's Katarina?" Marcus questioned with a blank face, green eyes trained on the older female.

"Let me go, and maybe I'll find her." LeBlanc replied half-sarcastically.

Ashe mutely watched as Marcus and LeBlanc engaged into a silent yet intense stare-down against each other. It made her think.

 _'Do... Do they know each other? Personally?'_

Marcus pulled his hand away from LeBlanc's shoulder, letting the woman go from his firm grip.

Ashe then became surprised.

No, not because Marcus had let LeBlanc go.

It's the fact that LeBlanc had suddenly reached up and caressed Marcus' cheek.

"I would really love to stay and catch up with you, Marcus, but your daughter needs me."

As soon as LeBlanc made a motion in walking away for the second time, Ashe snapped out of her distracted state and found her voice.

"W-Wait! I want to come with you!"

Two pair of eyes were suddenly on her. She suddenly became self-conscious, and to add more to that feeling, she looked down and started twiddling with her fingers.

"I... I want to come with LeBlanc. I need to see Katarina."

She lifted her head a bit to check Marcus' reaction, only to see the general facing the founder of the Black Rose.

LeBlanc met Marcus' gaze. "I could keep her safe,"

"Are you sure?" Marcus asked with mildly narrowed eyes.

"I've kept your daughter safe for the past few years, haven't I?"

Ashe is truly curious on why LeBlanc interacted with Marcus so casually, the familiarity not escaping her eyes. But, she knew that the connection between the two adults are something to be discussed or be thought about in another time. Right now, she wants, no, needs to find Katarina and see if her girlfriend is alright. So, she pursed her lips and tried her hardest to patiently wait for the grand general to decide if she is allowed to come with LeBlanc or not.

 **xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx**

LeBlanc drove past countless streetlights and brightly-lit roads and buildings, while Ashe quietly sat at the front passenger seat, hands loosely entwined and on her own lap. The silence between them is, thankfully, not uncomfortable, but LeBlanc could sense the worry Ashe currently felt and obliviously emitted.

Ashe bit her bottom lip as she rolled her thumbs over and over again, fidgeting with her fingers continuously with each second that come and go. The whole car ride to the Black Rose headquarters, Ashe's concern for her girlfriend never, not even a tiny bit, faltered.

Dozens of scenarios ran through her mind, one of them involving the Bounty Hunter. She had envisioned Sarah putting a bullet through Katarina's skull, just like what the female had wanted to do to her. The thought nearly made Ashe shiver visibly.

"Worried for Katarina?"

Ashe snapped her gaze to her left, meeting LeBlanc's eyes for a second before the older woman focused her sense of sight onto the road laid out in front of them.

"Very..."

"Don't stress yourself too much. Katarina has been in countless dire situations, and she always escapes them unscathed, so no worry should be present."

"I... I can't help it," She told LeBlanc. "What if this is different from her past situations? What if she doesn't escape this time?"

"Well, if that's what happens, hopefully not, then I will make sure to resurrect Katarina myself and kill her personally for not living."

Honestly, LeBlanc's answer didn't reassure Ashe.

At all.

The woman noticed it and sighed. "My apologies, but my forte is executing people, not comforting them."

"Thank you for trying, then." Ashe thanked half-heartedly before becoming lost in her scattered and worry-filled thoughts.

After that conversation, the whole car ride was consumed by silence.

 **xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx**

Katarina glared at the man standing at the door of the room she's currently being kept in. She's been killing the man in her mind over and over again, probably imagining every execution she could do to the man if she weren't tied with a stupid rope.

While doing just that, she squirmed a few times in her restraints. But, of course, to no avail, her struggles remained futile. She ended her attempts with a grunt, returning in the task of glaring at the guard.

She could still feel the soreness of her new bruises all over her body, the places where the goons had kicked and punched her. She silently swore to herself that she'd delightfully and willingly return the favor to, not only the men, but to their 'boss', Sierra, as well.

Ironically, the room she's being kept in looked like a typical room people usually see in kidnap scenes or torture scenes in movies. A small lightbulb dangling at the center of the room and all that crap. The only difference here is this one is a scene where no acting will be taking place whatsoever.

 _ **Knock! Knock! Knock!**_

The man stepped aside, and as soon as he did, the door swung open and Sierra walked in, followed by two more goons of hers.

"Hello, my dear." Sierra greeted her with a sweet smile.

"Do you actually think you can get away with this?" Katarina asked, glaring thousands of daggers at the woman.

"I already have, haven't I?"

Katarina opened her mouth to say a snarky retort, only to be cut off when Sierra raised her cellphone, screen lit and displaying her message thread with Ashe.

"Don't worry, I reassured your little girlfriend that you're safe. Her though..." Sierra purposely trailed off, smirking at her.

She growled. "Don't you fucking dare touch her!"

Sierra raised a finger and turned away, pressing the 'Call' option at one of the top corners of the screen.

"Fucking hell!" Katarina managed to stand up without her hands' help and tried kicking Sierra, only for the two goons to push her back and against the corner of the room again. She began kicking her legs as the two men restrained her. "Don't you dare!"

Sierra merely smiled sweetly at her before turning away and...!

"Hello?"

The woman pulled the gadget away from her ear after greeting the person in the other line and placed the call on speaker.

" _ **Katarina?**_ " Came Ashe's excited voice.

"Ashe!" Katarina shouted out, thrashing against her captors.

" _ **Katarina!?**_ " This time, her girlfriend's voice became more panicked. "Are...-Are you alright?"

"She's fine, darling~!" Sierra replied in a sing-song manner. "How are you?"

It was silent for a moment.

" _ **S-Sierra...?**_ " Ashe sounded like she whispered, but Katarina heard the fear lacing her tone.

"Yes, darling, I'm quite flattered that you still remember me, let alone my voice." Sierra then took up a wicked grin. "Would you like to see her?"

" _ **Don't...! Don't hurt her, please.**_ "

"Ashe, darling, why would I do that?"

" _ **Please, Sierra, I...-!**_ "

"You'll what, Ashe?"

" _ **I'll...! I'll exchange places with her!**_ "

"WHAT!?" Katarina nearly screeched. "No way! No fucking way!"

"Good," Sierra then leaned on the wall, while she had this expression Katarina so badly wanted to peel off with her blade. "I'll be sending you an address, and I want you to come alone here, alright?"

"Isn't that rather idiotic?" One of the men restraining her said, shooting Sierra an 'are _you stupid?'_ look.

"Hush now, Nocturne." Sierra shushed. "Now, Ashe, if you report this to the authorities, or if you tell anyone else... We may be tracked down, and Katarina may be found, but you should know that when you do find her... She won't be breathing. Do we have an understanding, my dear?"

" _ **Y-Yes, o-okay, I won't t-tell anyone.**_ "

"Alright then, tah-tah!"

 _ **Click!**_

Sierra threw the phone to the guard and spoke in a flat tone, "Give her our address."

"If you say so." The man muttered, tapping his thumbs onto the screen

"Nocturne has a point," The one at her left spoke. "If that girl blabs, then we'll be done. All of this will be useless."

"Now, now, Kha'Zix, I hired all of you to work for me, not to hear your useless opinions. So, get to it and prepare little Katarina here for Ashe's arrival."

Kha'Zix snarled, but kept himself quiet.

"I know Ashe," Sierra's wicked grin returned. "She'll keep this to herself."

And that's what made Katarina become lost in her thoughts. Only in that moment that she actually agreed with Sierra's words. She knows her girlfriend all too well, and she knows that Ashe will follow Sierra's orders without breaking the rules.

 _'No, Ashe... Don't...'_

"And when she comes here..." Sierra turned and met Katarina's eyes as she drew a small knife from behind her. "I'll be sure to paint the floor with her blood."

For once in her life, she actually didn't want to see Ashe.

If she were to see Ashe now...

Katarina closed her eyes and bowed her head, her legs becoming weak below her, while her imagination began conjuring up scenes that ended with the same bloody outcome.

Ashe lying on the floor, pool beneath her pale body...

Dead.

 **xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx**

 **Author's Note** : _Ooh-kay! I'm not sure if I've said this before, but the ending of this book can actually be seen on its cover._

 _That is, if you readers would look closely to it. :3_

 _Anyway, hope you enjoyed this chapter, it isn't my greatest creation, I know for_ sure. -_-


	7. Chapter 7

**ACT 7**

Ashe held her cellphone against her chest, while she watched LeBlanc settle behind her desk and conversed with a few members of the Black Rose. Presently, she sat on the leather couch place against one of the walls of the wide office.

She had answered Sierra's call when she was at the restroom a few doors away from LeBlanc's office, so the older woman didn't hear anything about the demand of her stepmother.

 _'I have to get to Katarina... I need to.'_

Ashe stood up, instantly capturing the attention of the people in the room with her.

"Yes, Ashe?" LeBlanc inquired, looking at her with expectantly.

"I... forgot something at the restroom, I'm just, uh, gonna go back to get it."

"Alright,"

She nearly pumped her fist in success as she made her way to the door, trying her best to not appear tensed and troubled. She was already standing in front of the door and grasping the knob when...

"Oh, Ashe,"

"Y-Yes?" She snapped her gaze back to LeBlanc, while internally, she was giving herself a slap on the face.

 _'Don't stutter!'_

LeBlanc, thankfully, seems to be oblivious with her true intentions.

"Take this," LeBlanc pulled out a small titanium revolver, giving it to one of the men, who then approached her and handed the firearm.

"Umm," She glanced twice between the revolver and LeBlanc before she focused her gaze on the leader of the Black Rose. "What's this for?"

"Safety precaution, what else?"

"Isn't this... illegal?"

The members of the organization released a few chuckles, while LeBlanc had to stop herself from shaking her head at Ashe's innocence and pure thinking.

"Consider it as a tool for self-defense, if it makes you feel better about it." LeBlanc suggested with a dismissive wave of a hand. "Now, go ahead and retrieve whatever you need."

Ashe nodded, tucking the revolver in a hidden pocket within her jacket with slightly shaking hands. As soon as she stored the sidearm, she quickly excused herself and left the office. On her way to the restroom, she passed by a few men, who gave her their small passing greetings. She replied to them with a few waves of her hands.

Finally, she reached the restroom's door, which is beside a window leading to a fire escape.

She looked over her shoulder first, and when she noticed that no one was present in the same hall she's in, she unlocked the window and pulled it open, stepping out of the building and onto the metal platform outside. Once she was outside, she pushed the window down and closed it before carefully proceeding down the fire escape.

With a few difficulties here and there, she finally reached the very bottom of the metal staircase. As quietly as possible, she unlocked the hook of the attached ladder and soundlessly lowered it down. When it finally reached its maximum limit, she climbed down, dismounting off the ladder and landing on top of a closed garbage trunk with a small metallic thud.

All that's left to do is to run down the alley and leave the premises.

 _ **Buzz! Buzz!**_

Almost as fast as lightning itself, she pulled her phone out of her pocket and checked her messages.

It's the address of Katarina's location.

Ashe pursed her lips for a moment before stuffing her phone back inside one of the pockets of her shorts.

 _'Wait for me, Katarina. I'm coming.'_

 **xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx**

It took a while, but now, Ashe found herself standing just a block away from a two-floored building, gazing at the abandoned-looking structure with uncertainty. She bit her lower lip as her nerves began to creep up on her. She didn't have to be a genius to not see the danger ahead of her.

But, the knowledge of Katarina being in that very building...

It erased her rational thinking.

Ashe checked if the revolver LeBlanc gave her is still inside her pocket. In the first place, she wasn't planning on using the pistol, but if needed... She will. Now seeing that her small firearm is with her, she decided to venture forth and continue onward.

 _'Katarina_ _had always been brave for you, Ashe. Now, it's time for you to be the brave one.'_

As she neared the building, she can't help but become nervous with each and every step she took. Time seemed to have fast-forwarded, because it felt like she merely blinked and teleported herself at the very front entrance of the building.

With a mildly trembling hand, she lightly pushed the door, which swung open with a low creak. Ashe gazed at the dark hall in front of her, fear crawling up her spine and her mind screaming at her to get away and run as fast as she can from her current location.

Pushing the red light and the warnings her brain kept telling her, she took an experimental step inside. As the sole of her boot touched the old wooden floor, it emitted a much louder creak than before. She froze for a moment, feeling her heart pounding against her ribs and threatening to leap up her throat.

After a few seconds of searching for courage, she finally succeeded and proceeded inside. Every step she took, it caused creaks to echo down the hall and maybe throughout the building.

"K-Ka..." Ashe stopped herself, closed her eyes and took a deep breath before lifting her eyelids. She opened her mouth again and called out, "Katarina?"

...

...

...!

"Ashe!"

Her head snapped up and focused onto the old and dusty staircase leading to the second floor, the same floor where her girlfriend's voice originated.

"Katarina!"

Ashe immediately ran up the stairs, her mind set in finding where the redhead is. Adrenaline began pumping in her veins as she ran up the stairs, skipping steps a few times to get to the top faster. She arrived at the top and called out again.

"Katarina? Where are you?"

"Ashe! No! Get out of here!" Came Katarina's voice.

She easily traced it back into one of the rooms, and she quickly rushed towards it, nearly shoving the old door off its rust-covered hinges. As soon as she had gotten the door open and out of the way, she found Katarina sitting on one rickety chair, wrists tied to the armrests and ankles tied to the front legs of the seat. Maybe a meter or two away from her lover is a dusty table where Katarina's blades are laid out.

"Ashe!"

Thankfully, Katarina seemed to be unharmed.

Ashe snatched a blade from the table and approached Katarina, intending to cut her girlfriend loose from the tightly-wound restraints.

"No, no, no, no," Katarina shook her head. "Why did you come here?"

She replied by cupping Katarina's jaw with her free hand and giving her girlfriend a kiss, which ended after at least two seconds. She gazed into Katarina's worry-filled eyes, her own eyes showing her determination to save the redhead.

"I love you, and I don't care if this causes me my life. As long as you live, I don't care what happens to me anymore."

 **xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx**

Katarina looked at Ashe with tears beginning to gather in the corner of her eyes. She leaned her forehead against Ashe's left shoulder for a moment, while she felt Ashe cut the rope tying her to the chair.

"You shouldn't have come here..."

"And why not?" Ashe questioned her, looking at her as if she was crazy. "Love makes me do crazy things, and that involves risking my life for you."

"Ashe, I...-!"

Katarina halted her words as soon as she saw a shadow loom behind her lover.

"Behind you!"

Everything went too fast for Katarina. One second, Ashe was nearly against her, kissing her, freeing her from her bindings, the next?

Her eyes widened as Ashe fell down the floor, clutching one of her forearms, which now has one of her blades stabbed through. The blade is literally impaled through Ashe's forearm, more than half of it pierced through her lover's flesh.

"Ashe!"

"Ugh...!" Ashe grunted, down the floor, grasping her now bleeding left forearm and clenching her teeth in pain.

Nocturne stood there, holding another blade that no doubt belongs to Katarina herself. Behind him, Kha'Zix and another hired-man, Hecarim, stood idly, waiting for further orders from their employer.

"Aww, you missed," Sierra said as she walked into the dimly-lit room.

"What the fuck!?" Katarina screeched out angrily, fists clenching.

Ashe had only managed to cut her left hand free, and she took advantage of that as much as she can. With her left unbound hand, she snatched the blade on the floor, the same one Ashe had dropped, and used it to cut her right wrist free. After that, she cut the rope wound around her ankles.

Surprisingly, no one bothered stopping her doings. The three men and Ashe's stepmother merely watched as Katarina got off the chair and took Ashe into her arms.

"Are you alright?" She asked Ashe, glancing at the bleeding wound for a second.

"I'll... I'll be fine." Ashe reassured through her clenched teeth.

"You both are so cute," The sweet smile on Sierra's face disappeared. "It's so... sickening."

Katarina held Ashe against her chest securely, careful to not bring any surges of pain to her girlfriend's left forearm.

"What now?" Kha'Zix asked from behind.

"We should just kill them and get this over with," Hecarim gruffly suggested, not even looking slightly interested.

"I agree." Nocturne nodded. "Shall I stab them both?"

"No," Sierra hissed at them. "I want to savour this moment, make my so called daughter suffer greatly."

...

...

...

 _ **Crash!**_

"What was that?" All heads turned to the entrance of the door.

Once again, everything was too fast for Katarina to register in her brain. Ashe had abruptly and forcefully pulled herself away, snatching a revolver out of her jacket. Before any of their enemies could take their attention from the ruckus downstairs, Ashe had already pulled the trigger.

Five times.

Nocturne dropped to the side, blade skidding away from his grasp, and chest bleeding through two newly-received bullet holes. Kha'Zix slid downward against the wall, blood oozing out of his stomach through two bullet holes. Beside Kha'Zix, Hecarim just dropped onto the floor lifeessly, sporting a bullet hole right between the eyes.

Ashe aimed the revolver directly to Sierra's head and pulled the trigger.

Only for the woman to duck out of the way.

Sierra made a mad dash for the open doorway, stumbling due to her panic.

Ashe tried pulling the trigger again to shoot Sierra, but the revolver merely clicked, indicating that it carries no more ammo. Katarina could only watch in shock as Ashe threw the pistol aside and grabbed the grip of blade currently embedded in her forearm. Ashe released a pained cry as she agonizingly pulled the blade out of her forearm and...!

 _ **Thud!**_

Katarina now found herself staring at four corpses, and none of them being Ashe's. There near the doorway, maybe less than a quarter of a meter away, is Sierra's lifeless body, her blade stabbed through the back of her head perfectly.

Blink.

Blink.

Blink.

She looked down in her arms and to her girlfriend, who looked up to her.

"I... I... How...?"

Ashe wrapped her non-bleeding arm around her neck and embraced her as tightly as she can. "Watching my girlfriend practice knife-throwing every weeknight taught me a thing or two about her hobby."

Without hesitance, Katarina wound her arms around Ashe, returning the embrace as she smiled.

 _'She's... something.'_ She thought, resisting the urge to grin and cry at the same time.

...

...

...

"It seems that everything is under control here,"

Katarina and Ashe broke their embrace and snapped their gazes to the doorway, where LeBlanc and Marcus stood, both wearing dark-colored casual clothing with unusually same styles.

"Is there something we're missing?" Katarina abruptly asked, glancing between her father and her mother-figure.

"How did you know we're here?" Ashe asked, completely confused with their sudden appearance.

"Evaine followed you," Marcus explained as he and LeBlanc stepped into the room, the head of the Black Rose walking over Sierra's corpse as if it was nothing but a rug.

"She... did?" Ashe blinked owlishly at them.

"Katarina, you should really teach your girlfriend how to lie better." LeBlanc advised.

"That explains Evaine here, but I don't get your part here, Father." Katarina pointed out.

"Evaine called me."

"You two are in a first name basis?"

"That's a story for another time," LeBlanc chimed in. "Now, we better get you both to the hospital and have you checked."

The pair assisted Katarina and Ashe up and off the floor. Marcus pulled out a bandage roll from behind him and let LeBlanc bandage Ashe's wound first, while he and Katarina walked towards the table where her blades are on.

She watched through her peripherals as her father collected the blade Nocturne once held, when he was still alive. As her father approached her, internally, she already expected that he would probably speak to her about everything, and everything includes the Black Rose.

"How long have you known?" Katarina asked her father, strapping her holsters back on.

"About your involvement with the Black Rose?"

"Yes,"

"Ever since Evaine began to train you."

"How?"

Marcus smirked to himself. "Evaine and I had a past."

Katarina's eyes widened and she stared at her father for a moment. "When the hell were you planning on telling me this?"

"I'm telling you now, aren't I?"

"What kind of past?" She asked, narrowing her eyes at her father.

"Let's just say she's supposed to be my wife and your stepmother if I hadn't married your biological mother."

"Ahem,"

The two Du Couteaus turned away from the table and directed their gazes at LeBlanc, who seems to have just finished bandaging Ashe's wound.

"If you two are finished with your little chat, maybe we can bring Ashe to the hospital for proper medical care."

Katarina took the blade her father held and sheathed it, giving her father a look. "This talk isn't finished."

"'Course."

She walked away from the grand general and walked towards Ashe, who she led out of the room and down the stairs with absolute care. On their way down the stairs, they found a few bodies at the lobby, probably the ones Marcus and LeBlanc had taken care of earlier.

"Katarina, you don't have to act as if I'm gonna faint." Ashe said, noticing how careful and slow the redhead moved.

"You just got stabbed because of me, and...-!"

"No, I got stabbed because of myself. Sierra was my stepmother, and she's the reason why I'm bleeding as we speak."

"I can't believe you're so calm right now. We almost died, Ashe. You almost died."

"But, we didn't. I didn't."

"But, you could have," She retorted with a sharp look.

Ashe sighed, letting the matter slip. "Katarina?"

"What is it?"

"Who'll take care of the bodies?"

"Let Evaine handle that."

"What about... me?"

She quirked an eyebrow at her lover. "What about you?"

"I... I just killed someone. Four people, to be specific."

"And one of them was your bitchy stepmother."

"That's not the point, Katarina!"

By now, they had reached the bottom of the stairs and were now facing each other.

"Then, what, Ashe?"

"I just killed people, and you act as if I merely squashed an insect."

"Ashe, it's not that big of a deal. To me, that is. I mean, I've killed dozens of times and, well, I don't really see any reasons why you should make a big deal out of this."

"Katarina, listen to me," Ashe said, gazing intently into her green eyes. "I killed four people. I don't care that all four of them were criminals, I don't care that one of them was Sierra!"

"What about it?" Katarina exasperatedly questioned back.

"You can kill someone and you won't even bat an eyelash! I'm not like you, Katarina!"

Despite looking completely calm and collected externally, Katarina felt slightly hurt with Ashe's last statement. The words came out as if she was completely different from other people, as if she was an outcast among the others, as if she was some sort of freak.

"Ashe, calm down," Katarina placed both of her hands on Ashe's shoulders. "This is just your anxiety reacting in. Listen, you're fine, alright? You killed, okay, that's fine. Just let it go."

"No! I can't just...! I can't just let it go!"

"Why?"

"I'm not like you, Katarina!"

There it is again. The same statement that sent a small pang of hurt in her chest.

"I know that," She turned away and rubbed both of her hands over her face.

"Kat, I... I didn't mean it like tha...-!"

"You don't have to say it over and over again."

 **xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx**

Ashe felt guilt seep in and constrict her from the inside. She had never meant to hurt Katarina with her words. She was too absorbed with her tensed nerves, the shock of knowing she had killed, the anxiety she should have felt earlier.

Everything, every single emotion and feeling of hers, it just came crashing down on her, and it was too much for her to keep herself completely composed. She couldn't stop herself from just letting it all out.

"Katarina, I'm... I'm sorry."

"Come on," Katarina headed towards the front door. "I'll get you to the hospital."

"Kat, I'm sorry," She apologized again, walking after Katarina and placing a hand over one of her shoulders. "Please, I'm sorry. It's just... I'm feeling really panicked and anxious. I didn't mean what I said, I promise."

Katarina didn't move from her place. Ashe leaned closer and planned on placing a kiss on Katarina's lips. Much to her disappointment, Katarina pulled away and proceeded to the door.

"Kat..."

"I... I don't want to talk to you right now."

Ashe's chest clenched with emotional agony, especially when she saw the hurt in Katarina's green eyes. Truly, she didn't mean what she had said. She admits, the way she worded it was poor. Also, she knew it was just her panicked state that had caused her to say such things.

"Katarina..." Tears were now brimming in the corners of her eyes. "I'm sorry... I really am... Please... I...-"

"Don't talk to me." She heard Katarina say as the redhead stepped out of the building.

...

...

...

 _ **BANG!**_

"KATARINA!"

 **xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx**

 **Author's Note** : _What's this? More cliffhangers? O.O_

 _What do you think happened to Katarina? 😱_

 _And, I THINK next chapter is the last one. :3_


	8. Chapter 8

**ACT 8**

Katarina's whole line of vision was just filled with the color black. It's oblivion at its finest. Don't get her wrong, she likes the color black, she may even adore it, but, right now, no, she does not, she repeats, she does **not** want to see the color black.

All she wanted to see is a pair of cerulean-colored eyes, a beautiful pale face and snow white strands of silk-like hair.

In short, the only thing, or one, she wants to see is Ashe.

She doesn't even know how she ended up in an endless sea of darkness she's currently in right now.

...

...

...

"Katarina?" A voice, a voice she loves, a voice she absolutely adores, a voice that always calmed her nerves, it reached her ears clearly.

"Katarina, hold on." The voice pleaded. "Hold on for me, please."

 _'Ashe?'_

"Hurry!" The voice called out.

 _'Is she... Is she crying...?'_

"Fucking traffic!"

 _'Is that... Is that my father?'_

"Katarina, please. Don't let go, fight for me."

 _'Ashe? Ashe!'_ Katarina attempted to call out, but it was like her voice was taken away from her.

"Ashe! Hey! What are you...-! Avarosa! Where are you going!?" LeBlanc's voice became distant.

The smell of smoke, the kind of smoke cars release, filled her nostrils.

"I won't let you die like this!"

 _'Ashe? Die? What?'_

Katarina attempted to move, but it felt like she was just swimming around in mid-air, still cloaked with darkness.

 _'Ashe! Ashe, what's happening? Tell me!'_

"Just hold on, Katarina! Don't...! Don't leave me!"

Katarina clenched her teeth. She could hear Ashe's voice, and it's completely obvious, just by listening to how she spoke, that her beloved is crying.

 _'Why are you crying?'_

"Don't leave me!"

 _'I'm never going to leave you, Ashe. Why would I? Don't cry...'_

After that, everything around her suddenly became mute. It's as if somebody had some sort of remote controller that muted her sense of hearing.

 _'Ashe? Are you there?'_

Katarina found herself floating in the shadows in silence yet again. While floating for a few minutes, hours maybe, she felt a painful shock of pain in her chest.

 _'Agh!'_ Her hands shot to her chest. _'What the fuck...?'_

The painful shocks and jolts in her chest continued for at least a few minutes before it faded.

 _'What the hell was that about?'_

"Ashe,"

Katarina felt her eyes widen, hearing her sister's voice say her lover's name.

 _'Ashe? Where is she?'_

"Are you sure about this?" Cassiopeia asked, Katarina assumed, Ashe.

"I won't let her die like this." Ashe answered back.

"She'll still die, even if you do this. Not physically, but inside, she will." Came Talon's voice.

"It's my decision!" Ashe angrily said.

 _'She's angry? Why? Ashe! What, what's happening?'_

Much to her dismay, her hearing was muted for the second time.

 _'Damn it, what the fuck is happening?'_

Within the span of time she's been given with the silenced darkness, she tried to remember what had happened before she was suddenly in this pitch black dimension of some sort. But, to no avail, she could not remember, not even a single pinch of memory, what had happened.

...

...

...

...

...

"Katarina?"

 _'Ashe!'_

"They're preparing you for surgery,"

 _'Surgery? What? What surgery? What for?'_

"You've been shot, Kat. In the heart."

 _'What!?'_

"I... I promise, I'll hold your hand throughout the surgery."

 _'Ashe... I... I don't want to die yet! I still want to see you again!'_

"I promise that, Kat, and..." She heard Ashe sniffle. "I promise I'll always be by your side. Throughout your whole life, I'll always be by your side."

 _'Ashe... Please...'_

"We found you a heart donor. You'll be alright."

 _'Oh, God... Thank fucking God! We'll see each other again, Ashe! Don't worry!'_

"I'm sorry, Katarina..." Ashe suddenly apologized.

 _'What? Why... Why are you apologizing?'_

"I'm so sorry for what I had said... And... I hope you forgive me for what I'm about to do..."

 _'W-What...?'_

"I love you, Katarina... I love you so much."

 _'I love you too, maybe more than you love me.'_

"Excuse me," A male voice spoke from the background. "We're here to prepare her for the surgery."

A few words were uttered in the background by a man, she assumed it was her father.

She felt something light and gentle touch her lips.

And now, for the third time, her sense of hearing and touch was shut off. It was getting irritating, honestly. Katarina decided to use her given time wisely. While she floated in the shadows, she began thinking about what she'll say to Ashe as soon as she wakes up from her surgery.

 _'Oh, I should probably thank the family of whoever it is donating their heart to me. I guess they should know that I'm fucking grateful.'_

She began thinking about how she's going to surprise Ashe with her third monthsary gift. Yes, she's talking about the snowflake necklace.

 _'I'm sure she'll love it.'_

Katarina then started to think how she'll hold Ashe and kiss her senseless once she wakes up from this endless blackness that's surrounding her now.

 _'She better be ready, because I'm going to love her like there's no tomorrow.'_

She grinned to herself, feeling quite proud of her plans.

Suddenly...

 _'Agh!'_ The pain returned, but this was more intense than the last one. _'Fucking...!_ _Hell...! What is...! This...!?'_

Katarina clutched her chest again, feeling as if someone was driving countless knives through her torso. The agony made her scream in the infinite darkness around her, she screamed and released string after string of colorful curses ever known in mankind.

 _'Agghhhh! Fuck...! It...! It fucking...! Hurts...! Damn it...! Agh!'_

All of a sudden... Poof, the pain was gone.

She let out a huge breath before gasping in some air. She inhaled and exhaled unsteadily over and over again, trying to regain her breathing after that painful episode.

 _'I'm going to skin_ _the doctor alive once I'm_ _awake.'_ She decided between her process of steadying her breathing pace.

Her body was then filled with a soothing and calming feeling. Not only that, but she felt a pair of arms wrap around her. It was cool, smooth and soft.

 _'Ashe!'_

...

...

...

...

...

...

Katarina's eyes snapped open and she shot off the hospital bed.

"Ashe!"

Cassiopeia, who is seated and was sleeping on the chair beside the bed, jumped out of her slumber, abruptly being woken up by Katarina suddenly calling out her girlfriend's name. Instead of being irritated and annoyed for the rude awakening, Cassiopeia got off her chair and approached her sister.

"Katarina!"

Katarina turned to face her sister, caught by total surprise when said sibling suddenly wrapped her arms around her and hugged.

"I'm so glad you're awake!"

"Whoa there, Cass," Katarina attempted to push Cassiopeia away. "You're actually glad I'm alive? That's a shocker."

Cassiopeia pulled away and gave her a light slap on the face. It wasn't actually a slap. Her sister merely pushed her cheek to the side as a make-shift slap, which she chuckled at in return.

"Here, drink some water. Your throat is probably as dry as a desert."

 _'That would probably explain my hoarse voice.'_ She thought to herself, accepting the water bottle her sister handed her.

"Thanks." She thanked before uncapping the bottle and drinking at least half of it in one go.

"Whoa, slow down," Cassiopeia spoke up. "Careful with your heart."

Katarina scoffed. "Oh, please, Cass, I'm not a flower that'll fall apart any second."

Cassiopeia rolled her eyes at her. "Reckless as ever, Kata."

"Hey, where's Ashe?"

"Oh, she went out with Talon to get a bite to eat. She... hasn't left your side ever since the start of the surgery."

"Oh..."

"Listen, I'm gonna go ask the doctor if you can eat something. Wait here, alright? I'll also have to call Father, he's at the lobby right now, getting some coffee."

"Alright," Katarina then reached a hand out. "Hey, wait, Cass,"

Cassiopeia, who was halfway near the door, halted and turned back to her. "Hmm?"

"Could you... You know, when you get back, can I borrow your phone? I wanna talk to Ashe, hear her voice, you know."

"Oh, uh, sure."

Katarina laid back on her hospital bed as her sibling left the room, leaving her all by herself. She looked down to herself and peeked inside her hospital gown, only to see her whole upper torso bandage.

 _ **Click!**_

She raised her head to face the door, clearly hearing the click and the small creak of it as it opened.

"Forgot something, Cas...-!"

Katarina froze and halted her words as soon as she saw the one and only Sarah Fortune stepping inside the hospital room, closing the door behind her.

"Hello, Katarina," Sarah greeted her with a smile.

"Here to kill me?"

"Kill you? Oh, no, no, of course not."

"What, you're here to visit me? Wish me a safe recovery?"

"Actually, yes, that's _exactly_ why I'm here."

"Bullshit."

Katarina then remembered Ashe.

"Wait,"

"Hmm?" Sarah hummed as she made her way towards the bedside.

"You're..." She clenched her fists. "You're here to kill Ashe."

Sarah looked at her, amusement and surprise shining in her lime green eyes.

"They didn't tell you?"

"Didn't tell me what?"

"Katarina, sweetheart, what's the last thing you remember?"

Katarina furrowed her eyebrows. "What do you mean?"

"Don't you remember? You and Ashe got into an argument, and when you decided to walk out on her, you suddenly got shot by a sniper."

"W-What?"

"You know the infamous sniper, _'The Virtuoso'_?"

"What about him?" She questioned.

"Someone out there, maybe someone you agitated, I don't know. That specific someone hired Jhin to have you executed. Lucky for you, Jhin shot you in the chest and not in the head, missing your heart, but also damaging an artery severely. Severe enough for you to be required to undergo surgery and need a new heart. But, Lady Luck seems to be quite generous to you, since a heart donor was immediately, and not to mention, miraculously, found for you. I must say, it was quite a sweet scene watching Ashe carry you through traffic to get you to the hospital."

"Something's not right with your story," Katarina narrowed her eyes. "What are you hiding, Fortune?"

Sarah smiled _'innocently'_. "You can answer that yourself, Katarina. What _is_ wrong with my story?"

...

...

...

...

...

The gears in her head clicked into place.

"Heart donor..." Katarina breathed out, eyes gazing down to her chest.

Sarah approached her and placed a hand on her chest, the same spot where her newly-received stitches are.

" _ **Near, far... Wherever you are,**_ "

Sarah began to sing for her, voice laced with mockery.

" _ **I believe that the heart does go on...**_ "

She didn't bother pushing Sarah's hand away from her chest.

" _ **Once more, you open the door, and you're here in my heart, and my heart will go on and on...**_ "

Sarah then pulled her hand away and decided to sit idly beside the bed, looking at her patiently, while she hummed the rest of the tune of the song.

"Ashe..." Tears dropped from her eyes one by one. "Ashe..."

Katarina placed both of her hands on her chest as she started crying.

"Ashe's heart..."

"And, _that_ , is why I'm here to wish you a safe recovery."

Katarina clutched the fabric of her hospital gown, teeth clenching to its very extent. Tears continued flowing from her eyes as she realized who the heart donor is.

"Why...? Why did she...?"

"Why wouldn't she? She loves you too much to let you die like that. What other answer could there be?"

Katarina didn't bother trying to stop herself from crying, while Sarah slipped out of the room and left her to her solitude. As she tried to not hyperventilate, the feeling of something cool around her neck registered in her brain.

With one hand, she reached up to her collarbone and touched... a snowflake?

Looking down, she found herself wearing a necklace. The same necklace she originally planned on giving Ashe as her late third monthsary gift.

 _'What...? How...'_

 _ **Click!**_

A fist closed around the silver snowflake for a moment and she kept her head bowed down as Marcus and Cassiopeia walked inside the room, followed by Talon, who currently has a paper bag that's probably filled with food.

"Hey, Katarina, we have good news...-!" Cassiopeia stopped mid-sentence and her smile disappeared as soon as she saw Katarina's lowered head. "Kata?"

"Good news?" Katarina abruptly questioned, her head still bowed down, while her hand slipped away from the snowflake.

"Yes," Marcus squinted his eyes. "The doctor said that you can eat...-!"

"Where's Ashe?"

...

...

...

"She's at the lobby." Talon answered after a brief moment of silence.

"Bull-fucking-shit." Katarina snapped her head up, teeth clenched and anger and sadness showing in her emeralds. "Where... The fuck... is she!?"

Talon and Cassiopeia exchanged looks, while Marcus took a step forward, instantly capturing her attention.

"Katarina, calm down...-!"

"Where is she!? Tell me she's **not** dead! Tell me it's not _her_ heart that's inside me!"

"Katarina, calm yourself," Marcus told her. "Stress is not good for you right now."

"If you won't bring her to me, I'll bring myself to her!"

"Katarina, stop it!" Cassiopeia approached her to stop her as she yanked everything connected to her. The heart monitor hooked up to her beeped loudly, while the green spectrum light became flat.

"Don't, Cass." She grunted, shooting Cassiopeia a glare that made her sister halt her movement.

"Talon, get a wheelchair." Marcus ordered his son, who nodded and immediately left the room, tossing the paper bag he held at the nearest chair. "Katarina, your brother will be back here, just wait...-!"

"No!" She hissed angrily. "I'm going to see Ashe, now! Even if it means I have to crawl around this whole fucking building!"

She attempted to stand...

Only to fall.

Marcus rushed forward and caught her, lifting her up with mild difficulty.

"Katarina, just wait. If you don't calm yourself now, I will call for a doctor to sedate you."

Katarina looked into Marcus' eyes and, and once she saw her father's own emerald-hued eyes, she knew that he was dead serious about her being tranquilized. She let her father sit her back down on the bed, while they waited for Talon to come back, which wasn't long.

As soon as Talon came back, he had a wheelchair with him, which is where she was situated. Now, Marcus held the two handles behind the chair, while her siblings walked along on either side of hers.

"Please tell me she isn't dead..." She whispered, eyes focused on her folded hands on her lap.

"I will not dignify that with an answer." Her father replied.

Her hands then clenched.

"She's not dead. I... I just know it!"

In her peripherals, Talon and Cassiopeia exchanged glances yet again, which she tried her best to ignore. They rode the elevator in complete silence, and all three of her family members could feel the anxiety she emitted.

 _'Please, don't be true. Please, please, please...'_

 _ **Ding!**_

Katarina sucked in a breath of air and closed her eyes, while she felt her father wheel her out of the elevator. Knowing that she had just underwent heart surgery, she knew that she shouldn't be stressing herself, but god-fucking-dammit, she couldn't keep herself calm.

Especially... Not with this... possibility looming over her like some sort of demon. She refused to believe Sarah's words, despite the other female's mocking singing echoing throughout her thoughts.

"Open your eyes, Katarina." Came her father's voice.

No, she didn't want to.

"Katarina,"

She didn't want to open her eyes, fearing that she'd see something that she had always seen as her very own version of a nightmare. The temperature around her had dropped, and she pushed back the urge to shiver at the coldness.

"Ashe isn't here," She said, still not opening her eyes. "She isn't here, get me out of here, **now**."

"Katarina, just..." Marcus sighed, placing both of his hands on her shoulders. "Just open your eyes."

Katarina, after a massive debate within herself, finally obeyed her father's words and decided to lift her eyelids. As soon as she opened her eyes, she gasped lowly and covered her mouth with her hands.

There...

Right there, in front of her...

She attempted to stand, and she saw her siblings make a motion of assisting. She let the two help her onto her two feet and guide her towards the steel table maybe half a meter in front of her. Once she had her hands on the steel table, Talon and Cassiopeia slowly let her go.

"Please tell me this isn't her..."

Marcus stayed silent, wordlessly gazing at her with an unreadable expression. Her siblings remained close to her in case she loses her balance.

With a trembling hand, she took the very top end of the blanket and pulled it down in a leisure pace. A part of her was thinking that if she were to take it slowly, maybe the person beneath the blanket would change. But, of course, another part of her was telling her that she would just have to accept the outcome.

And her nightmare.

She pulled the white blanket down, and once she saw the person's face, she choked back a sob and proceeded as best as she could to peel the blanket down. Katarina halted and dropped the blanket as soon as she saw the stitch marks on the person's chest.

Her breath hitched in her throat as soon as she saw her beloved's face. Due to her lover possessing pale skin, it looked as if she was merely asleep.

"No," She gritted out. "This... This can't be... This can't be happening!"

She cupped her lover's face in her trembling hands.

"Wake up, Ashe. Please, open those eyes... Open those eyes... Those eyes I always loved..."

"..."

"Ashe, please... Tell me this is a joke... I don't care how sick of a joke this is! Tell me this is one big fucking joke!"

"..."

"You told me to fight for you! I fought for you, Ashe! I'm here! I'm right beside you! Wake up!"

"..."

Katarina pursed her lips as she gazed at Ashe's face.

"Let me hear your voice one more time... Just one more time..."

 _ **"Don't talk to me."**_

Her last memory with Ashe, it suddenly flashed in her mind. That was the last thing she had told Ashe. The last memory she had with her lover... It wasn't what she had wanted.

If only she had known that it was their final moment together, she would have probably taken an alternate route and never had argued with Ashe in the first place.

"Talk to me, Ashe... I... I didn't mean what I said... I love you, I love your voice, and I want nothing else but to hear them... Let me hear them, Ashe... Right now..."

"..."

No reply came.

Katarina leaned close and kissed Ashe's cold lips. Her own lips felt extremely warm against Ashe's lifeless ones. She could feel her heart break when no movement was felt against her lips.

Ashe is dead.

She has to accept that.

Ashe is **dead**.

"Why did you leave me...?" She asked, brushing Ashe's white hair back. "Why...?"

Katarina leaned down, wrapping her arms around the body as much as she can.

"Ashe!" She cried out, holding Ashe with a loose yet desperate grip. "You can't just leave me like...! Like this! I love you! I fucking love you, and this is what you do to me!?"

"..."

"You gave me everything I needed... And now...!" Katarina choked on her tears for a moment as she gazed back up to Ashe's face. "You just... left..."

"Talk to me, Ashe..." She repeated, crying onto Ashe's cold chest. "I want to hear your voice... Tell me you love me... Tell me that everything will be alright!"

"..."

"You promised me... You promised me that you'd hold my hand during surgery! Did you lie!? How could you lie to me!? Break your promise just like that!"

...

...

...

"Katarina," Her father spoke behind her, while he placed a hand one of her shoulders.

"What!?" She shouted at her father, glaring menacingly at him through her tears.

"You and Ashe were operated at the same time, side by side."

"W-What...?"

Cassiopeia took a step forward, a sad expression on her face. "Before she was sedated, she held one of your hands with one of her own. Even when she lost her consciousness, throughout the whole surgery, she held your hand. She had never let go, even when she gave her last breath."

A lone tear ran down Cassiopeia's face as she chuckled half-heartedly. "She told me to tell you, before she was sedated, that... she kept her promise."

Katarina pursed her lips again as she turned her gaze back to Ashe, who she then hugged, desperately wishing that Ashe would wrap her cold lifeless arms around her in return.

"I love you..."

 **xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx**

Katarina stood beside Ashe's grave as the cemetery workers lowered her beloved's casket. She had a red rose clutched by her right hand, while she stared at the lowering coffin in front of her.

She had already discovered everything that had happened while she was unconscious. Ashe had carried her through heavy traffic just to get her to the nearest hospital. She couldn't bring herself to imagine the pain Ashe went through to reach her destination.

One by one, Ashe's friends approached the open grave, dropping their white roses on top of the coffin as they said their parting words to the Avarosa. Vi, Caitlyn, Lux and more of Ashe and Katarina's friends gave her their condolences, but it fell on deaf ears.

Once everyone had dropped their roses into the grave, Katarina walked up to the open grave and weakly held out her red rose. As her fingers slowly opened to let the stem of the rose go, memories she made and shared with Ashe flashed right before her eyes.

The first time she saw Ashe, how they met...

The first time they smiled together, how they laughed...

The first time she held Ashe, how they conveyed their love for each other with their sweet and gentle touches...

The love she felt that consumed her body when Ashe had come to rescue her and had kissed her as soon as they saw each other...

Who would have known that the kiss they shared that moment was their last one...

As the red rose fell and touched the coffin, Katarina turned away, fists clenched and head bowed down as she cried for probably the hundredth time.

"Katarina,"

Raising her head, she found her father holding up Ashe's cellphone.

"Father..."

"I think this is the right time to give you this."

Katarina accepted the phone and pushed one of the buttons at the side, causing the screen to light up and show a familiar picture to her. The wallpaper showed Ashe kissing her cheek. She remembered that they took this specific image during one of their dates.

She swiped the lock-screen to the side, ending up staring at... a recording?

 _'From Ashe...'_

Her thumb trembled as it pressed the _'Play'_ option.

Everyone around her became silent as Ashe's soft voice sounded through the speaker of the gadget.

 _ **Every night in my dreams**_

 _ **I see you**_

 _ **I feel you**_

 _ **That is how I know you go on**_

Katarina smiled to herself as she remembered Ashe shyly telling her about the first dream she had that involved Katarina herself.

 _ **Far across the distance**_

 _ **And spaces between us**_

 _ **You have come to show you go on**_

She recalled the time when she had told Ashe to come to the estate with no valid reason, and her lover, ever so attentive, went to her in the middle of the night without any questions asked.

 _ **Near... Far...**_

 _ **Wherever you are**_

 _ **I believe that the heart does go on**_

 _ **Once more, you open the door**_

 _ **And you're here in my heart and**_

 _ **My Heart will Go On and on**_

Using her free hand, she felt the spot where her stitches are through the black blouse she currently wore.

 _ **Love can touch us one time**_

 _ **And last for a lifetime**_

 _ **And never let go 'till we're one**_

 _ **Love was when I loved you**_

 _ **One true time, I hold to**_

 _ **In my life, we'll always go on**_

Katarina, regardless of her tears, smiled again as she remembered the first time she and Ashe tangled under the sheets with each other, both letting each other feel their love for one another through each and every touch of their fingertips.

 _ **Near... Far...**_

 _ **Wherever you are**_

 _ **I believe that the heart does go on**_

 _ **Once more, you open the door**_

 _ **And you're here in my heart and**_

 _ **My Heart will Go On and on**_

Hers and Ashe's argument, it left a bitter taste in her mouth. She regretted telling Ashe what she had said, she regretted not forgiving Ashe.

 _ **You're here**_

 _ **There's nothing I fear**_

 _ **And I know that my heart will go on**_

Cassiopeia smiled sadly as she offered Katarina Ashe's favorite jersey. She didn't care that she may look idiotic with what she's about to do. With a nod of thanks, she slipped Ashe's jersey on, smiling at the familiarity of the fabric's cool touch.

 _ **We'll stay**_

 _ **Forever this way**_

 _ **You are safe in my heart and**_

 _ **My Heart Will Go On and on**_

Katarina then turned to her brother, who draped a familiar jean jacket over her shoulder. It's the same jacket Ashe had given her the same day she had outright voiced her feelings out. She offered Talon a sad smile, who returned it with his own.

She sat down on the grass just beside Ashe's grave, which the workers are already filling with dirt, burying her lover's casket.

Ashe's words echoed in her thoughts as she replayed the recording, stroking the hem of the jersey while she closed her eyes and let the jacket serve as her beloved's hold.

 _ **"I hope it will be able to fulfill the role of my arms that I want to hold you with. Just like the jacket I left for you."**_

She smiled as she let herself be lost in Ashe's gentle voice.

"It'll do, Ashe... It'll do."

 **xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx**

 **Author's Note** : _And... boom! That's it! That's the ending of My Heart Will Go On! ^_^_

 _A big thank you to everyone who stuck with me 'til the very end of this story! ^3^_

 _This was... a huge challenge for me, since I kept crying my eyes out every time my strong imagination conjures up the image of Katarina crying because of Ashe's death and all._

 _Yes, I know, this is my story, I shouldn't be crying. Don't judge me._

 _I'm really sorry for killing Ashe. Trust me, I was a bit against my own idea in the first place. xD_

 _If you readers are satisfied with this ending, then no need for you to read the Epilogue, which is an alternate ending I made. ^^_

 _All those who aren't, then read the Epilogue/Alternate Ending. It might lift your spirits up, even if it's just a bit. ;)_


	9. Epilogue - Alternate Ending

**Epilogue/Alternate Ending**

Katarina shot up from her bed, skin blanketed with sweat yet again. She huffed and puffed, breathing in as much air as she can. She's been having nightmares ever since Ashe's death, each and every nightmare different, but so similar in every other way.

She ran a hand through her hair before wiping the sweat on her face with a hand. After wiping the sweat on her face, she pulled her legs against her and buried her face in her knees.

"Ashe..."

Honestly, she didn't know what to expect anymore. Waking up covered with sweat and coming to a realization that Ashe is dead and will never be back. No matter what happens, no matter how much she begs, no matter how much she cries, no matter how much she prays, Ashe will never rise from the afterlife and suddenly appear beside her, whispering in her ears, reassuring her with soothing words that she's alive and will never leave her side.

Katarina wiped her tears away.

 _'Just... stop crying. Ashe would never had liked it, seeing you like this.'_

"Isn't crying against my rules?"

Raising her head, she found herself staring into a pair of bronze-hued eyes. For a moment, she just stared at the person sitting at the foot of her bed, looking at her with a look that she assumed is supposed to be a scolding one.

"Ev... Evaine...?"

The scolding look disappeared and was replaced with a smirk.

"Finally, I get to talk to you."

"What?" She asked in confusion. "What're you talking about?"

"I've been wanting to talk to you, but I guess it wasn't time yet. Well, it is now."

Katarina's perplexity increased more and more with LeBlanc's words. The other female isn't making any sense to her right now, and she's still somewhat curious why LeBlanc is suddenly there in her room, sitting at the foot of her bed, in the middle of the freaking night.

"What are you doing here? I'm not part of the Black Rose anymore, remember?"

"Katarina, I know I told you after your last task to quit the Black Rose...-!"

"And, I did." She cut off. "I don't want anything to do with it anymore."

...

...

...

"I'm sorry, Katarina." LeBlanc apologized out of the blue, further confusing Katarina.

"What? Why are you suddenly saying sorry?"

"I had to leave the Black Rose to someone, and... I only saw her as the potential successor. To the legal side of the organization, that is. If you would accept, I want you to lead the other face of the Rose."

Katarina looked at LeBlanc with a flabbergasted gaze. "You want me to continue working with you?"

"Not with me, Katarina, but with _her_."

"Her?"

"Currently, she's temporarily leading the Black Rose, but she needs you to be there with her, and honestly, I only see you whenever I think of who will lead the Black Rose once my time in the world is done."

"Why now, Evaine? You're still young in some way. Why are you suddenly asking me to take control of the Black Rose's illegal business? And, who the hell is this girl you're talking about?"

"If you don't want to take over that face of the organization, then fine, I'll accept that, but,"

"But what?"

Just then, she saw something unexpected on LeBlanc's face. LeBlanc gazed at her with a pleading look, something she had never seen her whole time being involved with the Black Rose.

"Don't let all of my hard work go to waste." LeBlanc told her. "The Black Rose was nothing but a criminal organization I made from the very start, but then I met you, Marcus' daughter..."

"What does your group have anything to do with me?"

"I promised to myself I wouldn't become attached to you, yet I found myself building a foundation for you."

"What foundation?"

"Your fall-back, Katarina. I knew you didn't want to follow your father's footsteps, I knew you had no direction in life. I built the legal side of the Black Rose for you, so when the time comes, I'll pass the reins to you and you'll have a stable income."

LeBlanc stood up from the bed. "I hope you'll accept this parting gift, Katarina. Thank you."

Katarina was absolutely confused with the whole situation at hand. She didn't know what to do or how to react to LeBlanc's words. She didn't want anything to do with Black Rose, and LeBlanc knows that fully, but... Why is she giving her the whole organization all of a sudden?

And, who the fuck is this mystery person?

She blinked.

LeBlanc was gone.

"Take care of yourself, Katarina." Came LeBlanc's voice from somewhere around her. "And, take care of _her_."

Without a hint of warning, her bed disappeared and she suddenly fell into a pool of darkness. She tried grasping onto different directions, hoping to find something solid, but it was useless. She continued to fall into the shadows, the light from her bedroom earlier disappearing. Heck, her whole bedroom is gone. It's as if she's sky-diving in a pitch black sky without a single parachute.

But, instead of feeling the rush of air skydivers usually feel whenever they jump out of the aircraft, she felt something cool and wet against her right arm. She attempted to rub the coolness away, but it got... wetter?

 _'What the hell...?'_

Katarina clenched her eyes shut and felt herself drop onto something... soft?

With a gasp in the darkness, her eyes snapped open. Her eyes quickly darted around the unknown location she's suddenly in. She didn't even have to directly look down on herself just to see that she's stark naked.

 _'White ceiling? White walls? White floor? White lights? White... hair!?'_

Katarina's eyes widened as she watched her one and only lover, **Ashe** , wiping her right arm with a warm towel, giving her some sort of sponge bath. She could only mutely stare, with absolute shock written all over her face, as Ashe gingerly moved the towel against her skin. One hand holding the towel, and the other holding her arm, thumb sometimes stroking her arm's skin.

Ashe hummed a gentle tune quietly, and her hum was purely blissful in Katarina's ears. But, she didn't focus her mind on that, though. She didn't how long she was staring at Ashe, but when she finally snapped back to her senses, her left hand, almost hesitantly, lifted up from her side and moved towards Ashe.

Her lover's white hair was slightly longer than she remembered and it was covering half of her face, which obscured half of Ashe's face. It's actually the main reason why Ashe hasn't noticed that she was awake.

Finally, after a few passing seconds, her fingertips made physical contact with the long strands of white hair her girlfriend possessed. Ashe promptly became rigid, and her movements halted in a split-second.

In the slowest way possible, Ashe turned her head and gazed at her, oh so familiar cerulean eyes widening as it met her emeralds. Ashe opened her mouth and closed it for a few times. For a moment, the Avarosa had forgotten how to form her words, but she eventually figured it out.

"K-K-Katarina?"

 _'Oh my fucking God...'_

"Ashe!"

In a blink of an eye, Katarina had both of her hands latched around Ashe and had pulled her beloved against her chest, embracing her as tight as she could. She felt Ashe return the hug, but it wasn't as strong as she remembers it. Disregarding that, she turned her head and buried her face in Ashe's neck, closing her eyes and inhaling the refreshing peppermint scent her lover always emitted.

"You're finally awake!" Ashe cried out happily over her shoulder.

"You're fucking alive!" She said, arms showing no sign in loosening. "You're here! You're alive! You're not at the morgue!"

"Morgue?" Ashe asked her, confusion lacing her question.

...

...

...

Katarina's eyes opened abruptly, realization dawning to her.

 _'Oh no... This is another dream! No! Once I see Ashe's chest, I'm going to see the stitches! No! No, no, no, no, no!'_

All of her dreams started like that. She will get to spend time with Ashe, be intimate with her for a few moments, until it comes to the part of discarding each other's clothes. Whenever it came to that exact moment, her dream would transform into a nightmare and she would wake up to her horrible reality.

"Katari...-!"

Ashe didn't get to finish. Katarina pushed her back, enough to break the hug and for Ashe to leave her leaning posture. Once her girlfriend was standing in a somewhat straight manner, both of her hands shot forward and towards Ashe's top clothing. Since Ashe was wearing a black blazer and a white blouse, she shoved the blazer open and forced Ashe to remove it with a tug.

Her girlfriend didn't put up a fight, completely caught off-guard with her bold actions, which gave Katarina less difficulty in getting the blazer out of the way. When the blazer was off and on the floor, her hands were already on the front of the blouse, gripping the fabric as much as she could.

"Katarina, what are...-!"

Katarina, with all her stength, tore the blouse open, sending the buttons cascading away from its rightfully stitched places and instantly revealing a white lace-covered bra Ashe currently wore.

Openly, Katarina literally gawked at Ashe's chest, where no scar or stitches can be seen.

There's no scar, no stitch, no nothing, but smooth and flawless pale skin.

"Katarina!" Ashe squeaked out, face completely red and flushed. "What has gotten into you!?"

Before Ashe could attempt to cover herself with her hands or to continue further with her questions, Katarina's hands clasped around Ashe's waist and pulled the said female in. Katarina leaned forward and placed her ear in Ashe's chest, while Ashe herself mildly struggled to keep her balance.

The sound of an unusually fast-paced heart entered her ears. It was slightly erratic, but nonetheless, beating.

"You're actually alive..."

"W-What?"

Slowly, she loosened her hold around Ashe and let her girlfriend pull away a bit. Ashe still leaned on the bed, but not as much as before. She gazed at Ashe, while the other female brushed her hair back and smiled.

"You know what, never mind that. I'm just..." Ashe chuckled to herself. "I'm just glad you're awake now."

"Awake? Now?"

Ashe stroked her cheeks with her hands, and for just a nanosecond, she wondered where the towel had gone.

"You've been unconscious for quite a while, Kat,"

"Unconscious? Me?"

Ashe nodded.

"For how long?"

"One month."

"Oh..."

Ashe lightly laughed. "You wake up after a heart surgery and you're just going to say _'Oh'_?"

"Umm, I... love you?"

Her lover quirked an eyebrow. "Is that a question?"

"Er, not really?"

With a small shake of her head, Ashe closed the distance between them and initiated a kiss, which she whole heartedly welcomed and accepted.

"I love you too." Ashe replied against her lips.

"Mmm," She lightly moaned through the kiss as her hands caressed Ashe's flat stomach. Her tongue darted out and Ashe met it halfway with her own. She released another moan when she tasted Ashe for the first time in what seemed like forever. Her hands disappeared behind Ashe, and it doesn't take a genius to know where it went.

She truly missed this. The taste of Ashe's lips, the sensations it would send throughout her body, the dance their tongues would perform, the calming touch of Ashe's cool hands.

Katarina smiled dopily in their kiss when her hands finally found Ashe's, well, ass.

 _'It's as round and soft as ever...'_

Unfortunately for her, Ashe broke the kiss.

"Seriously?" Ashe questioned her with a half-hearted scolding gaze. "You just woke up from your one month-long unconscious state and you're already thinking about that?"

"That means I have a whole month's worth of energy to ravish that sweet little _Ashe_ of yours."

Ashe shot her a look, and repeated her previous one-word question in a flat tone. "Seriously?"

Katarina grinned at her own joke. "Yeah, seriously. I hope you're prepared to be sore."

With a swift and strong tug, Ashe was suddenly off the floor and on the bed, and Katarina was lying back on the mattress, her girlfriend now on top of her.

"That's more like it."

"Katarina, as much as I would love to...-!"

"Have sex with me?"

"...be sexually intimate you," Ashe continued in her own words. "The doctor said that strenuous activities are not allowed for you right now."

"Hey, I'm naked right now, aren't I? Shouldn't it be fair that you take off your clothes as well?"

"You're naked, because I was giving you a sponge bath."

"Can I give you a _'tongue bath'_ , then?"

Ashe glared at her.

"Fine, just lay with me here, then."

"Katarina, don't you at least need a drink?" Ashe asked, moving to the small vacant space at the left side of the bed and settling there.

"What," Katarina then looked at Ashe suggestively. "You gonna give me some?"

Ashe made a face before reaching to the table near the bed, retrieving the water bottle and handing it to Katarina.

"Yes, literally."

"Killjoy." She muttered, twisting the cap off and drinking half of the contents of the bottle. She gave the bottle back to Ashe, who returned it to its original place. "So, where are the others?"

Katarina adjusted herself until she was lying on Ashe's chest, ear near her beloved's now steadily beating heart. Ashe wrapped her arms around her, and she instantly sank in her lover's arms.

"Cassiopeia and Talon are at school, and your father's at work. Oh, and Vi and the others will be dropping by today, I don't know what's the exact time though. And, don't you want to at least put your hospital gown on?"

"No, thanks, I'm more comfortable in this state. What about Evaine? Did she come to visit or is she too busy with the Black Rose?"

"..."

When she heard no reply being, she turned her gaze to her partner, who now had a noticeable frown on her beautiful face.

"Ashe?"

"Evaine's here right now, Kat."

Katarina did a sweeping scan around the room for a second or two. "Where?"

"In here." As Ashe said this, she placed a hand against Katarina's bandaged chest.

Looking down on her chest, she placed a hand on top of Ashe's own, the words registering and being processed in her mind.

"She's the heart donor..."

"She said that it wasn't your time yet."

"Wait, that's impossible."

"Huh?"

"A healthy person can't just donate their heart like that. It's illegal. He or she has to be dying, or sick, or...-!"

"Katarina, you of all people should know that the words _'legal'_ and _'illegal'_ doesn't mean anything to Evaine. They're just words for her."

Katarina rubbed her eyes with two fingers. "She bribed the doctor, didn't she?"

"She did."

She sighed and buried her face in Ashe's chest. No, she isn't doing that just to feel the warmth of Ashe's bosom... But, that is quite a nice bonus, if she does say so herself.

...

...

...

"Wait a minute,"

"Hmm?"

"Who's the leader of the Black Rose?"

"..."

"Ashe?"

"..."

She lifted her head up and gazed at Ashe, who is currently biting her bottom lip and looking away a tad bit nervously, not wanting to meet her own gaze.

"Ashe, don't tell me..." She trailed off with her words, while her eyes wandered to Ashe's choice of clothing.

"I... I'm sorry."

"Dammit, Ashe," Katarina pulled away and sat up. "Why?"

"I... I promised her that I'll take control...-!"

"You're going to take control of a criminal organization! Didn't you think of that!?"

"Katarina, please, don't stress yourself too mu...-!"

"Stress myself? How can I **not**? The whole time I was unconscious, I thought _you_ were the one who gave me a new heart! I lived more than just a few days, thinking that you were dead! Now I wake up, and you tell me the woman I always saw as my second mother is dead, and you're the new leader of the Black Rose! **How** in the holy fucking hell can I keep myself calm!?"

"Kat...-!"

"Don't you know how many people who wants the Black Rose gone!? Don't you know that there's a high possibility that you're going to end up at the top of the kill list of countless gangs and other organizations out there!? DON'T YOU KNOW ANY OF THAT!?"

 _ **Ba-bump!**_

"Ugh..." Katarina's right hand gripped the blanket while her left hand shot to her chest, her breath suddenly hitching in her throat.

"Katarina, calm down," Ashe was already sitting up and was wiping the sweat that had formed on Katarina's forehead with one of her hands, while Katarina felt the other gently brush and banish the tears that she had obliviously began to shed. "You're stressing yourself too much."

"Ashe..."

"Shh," Ashe hushed her, brushing her hair back over and over again in a caring manner. "Try to rest for now, alright? Close your eyes, and slee...-!"

"No!" She wrapped her arms around Ashe, burying her face in Ashe's face again. "If I close my eyes... You'll be dead again."

"Kata...-!"

"I'll wake up back inside my room, with you gone! **Dead**! I don't want to wake up anymore, Ashe!" As she said this, she locked her arms around Ashe. "If this is a dream, then let me die in my sleep! Let me stay here with you!"

Katarina found herself breaking down and crying against Ashe, clear tears running down her lover's chest. She never did have a liking in crying and always had a rule against it, but every single time it involved Ashe, her rules were always put aside and disregarded. Her heart, or to be completely specific, Evaine's heart, inside her chest was physically aching a bit, but it was fading away little by little.

Ashe whispered soothing and reassuring words in her ear, while rubbing her back comfortingly and stroking her hair to calm her tensed nerves. Her lover held her for a long time and never uttered a single complaint about it.

"This isn't a dream, Katarina," Ashe murmured, continuing her comforting gestures. "Don't worry, I'm alive, and know that I will never leave you."

She whimpered, and honestly, she doesn't care if she sounded like some sort of big crybaby. All she wanted right now is to be held by Ashe and Ashe alone. Her tears stopped gradually, but in the process of that, she kept asking herself in her head what would have happened.

What would have happened if Ashe was really the heart donor?

What would have happened if she and Ashe never developed feelings for each other?

What would have happened if Ashe's crush on Riven had bloomed?

Would Katarina herself still have a chance with Ashe?

Or, would she have continued in her life aimlessly? Ashe nowhere near her side and not part of her life.

Her arms around Ashe tightened significantly when she envisioned herself lying down in her bedroom, no one beside her to warm her bed and to hold her whenever she slept, or vice-versa.

"What are you thinking about?" Ashe inquired quietly, speaking into her red hair.

"What we could have been..."

Earlier, while she was still crying all out, Ashe had leaned back onto the bed without her notice, and it just registered to her now. She pulled back a bit and laid her head on Ashe's shoulder.

"What do you think we could have been?"

"Strangers to one another, maybe."

Ashe looked towards her, a small smile on her face while she caressed her cheek with one hand. "You think so?"

"I know so." She leaned forward and started a sweet and innocent kiss, pulling away after a few seconds. "I'm so glad you don't have a dick."

Ashe stared...

...

...and suddenly, but lightly, laughed.

"Your language will never change, will it?"

"Nope."

Ashe turned away and muttered something under her breath. It was just one word, but Katarina couldn't clearly hear it, and it made her curious.

"What was that?"

Ashe blushed visibly. "O-Oh, n-nothing..."

"Ashe,"

"I told you, it's nothing."

...

In a blink of an eye, Ashe was lying down on the bed, while Katarina was now straddling her waist, still completely naked, just like the day she was born. Katarina internally smirked when she saw Ashe's gaze lingered on her chest longer than needed before it flicked up to her face and focused there, the blush on her girlfriend's cheeks becoming more noticeable.

"Tell me now, or I'll finger you 'til your throat becomes sore from screaming."

"Y-You were j-just c-crying a minute ago...!" Ashe practically squeaked out. "And, now y-you want to d-do _it_!?"

"I shift easily, probably a God-given gift, if I do say so myself. Now, don't change the subject."

"I-I just said _'good'_ , okay?"

Katarina processed the answer in her head, and next thing Ashe knew, there was a mischievous smirk on her lips. Ashe turned away and blushed redder than a tomato, while Katarina leaned down and pressed her chest against Ashe's barely covered torso.

"Oh, so you like me using vulgar words? Talk dirty to you?"

"N-No! It's...! It's just that...-!"

Ashe pursed her lips once Katarina's tongue stuck out and licked it.

"You're a naughty girl, aren't you?"

"..." Ashe avoided her smug gaze.

"And they say I'm the kinky one. You're just playing innocent, aren't you?"

"U-Uh, n-no...-!"

"Which one would you like to be, Ashe? The pot or the kettle?"

"Isn't that both the same?"

Katarina snapped her gaze over her shoulder, while Ashe looked around her. There, at the door of the room, which is now fully opened, is Lux, and behind her is Vi, Caitlyn and Riven, one specific pinkette grinning at them.

The four females walked in, and Katarina instantly felt Ashe begin to squirm underneath her, trying to escape her. Katarina then saw Riven's steel grey eyes flicker to Ashe's half-undressed self.

"Hey," She hissed, glaring at Riven. "Possessive girlfriend over here."

Riven just looked at her with amusement, while the others released their own laughs at her reaction.

"Umm, Katarina?"

She glanced at Ashe. "What is it?"

"You're a bit behind on the news."

"What news?"

As if on cue, Lux hopped to Riven's side and wound her arms around one of Riven's.

"We're a couple now!"

...

...

...

"Mind-blown?" Vi asked, still grinning.

"I admit, I did have a huge crush on Ashe, but," Riven smiled. "I'm with Lux now, and I'm completely happy with her."

"Anyway," Caitlyn interjected. "Would one of you please tell me what are you two doing right now?"

"We were just about to have sex." Katarina deadpanned, not at bothered with her state of nudity.

"W-What!? N-No, we...! We weren't...!"

"Did you guys know that Ashe actually likes me talking dirty to her?"

Now, the redness in Ashe's face is either from anger or from embarrassment. Truthfully, Katarina doesn't really know.

"KATARINA!"

Okay, maybe it's more on anger.

 **xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx**

 **Author's Note** : _Okaaay~! The epilogue of this story ends here, I guess. :3_

 _And, yes, it's quite a long epilogue, huh? XD_

 _It's sort of an alternate ending. :3_

 _Again, I want to give my thanks to all of you who had read this story to the very end! I really appreciate the messges and comments, and the fact that you readers even bothered with my story. :D_

 _Obviously, the song that inspired me to write this is **"My Heart Will Go On"** by the lovely artist, **Celine Dion**. :)_

 _Got a great big help from **silversapphire** (mah sister), and my brother when I was experiencing writer's block here and there, so yeah, I give my thanks to them. :)_

 _ **IvaVampire** , thank you for shipping this, well, ship with me! Totally motivated me in typing! ^^ I'm quite sure I'll be thanking and mentioning you more in my future stories, especially the KatxAshe ones. Long live our OTPeh! xD_

 _ **ClaireFarronXIII** , I would like to thank you for sticking with me in my stories! You were the first reader that voted and commented in my first KatxAshe story, so thank you very much for that. :*_

 _ **ThNguyn719** , I also would like to thank you for taking an interest in my stories, your votes and comments really made me happy and motivated me enough to keep me writing. Thankies! :*_

 _Anyway,_ I have another KatarinaxAshe story (go figure xD), and it is titled **"Million Reasons"** , inspired by **Lady Gaga** 's new awesome song. The story won't be AU/Modern, so it takes place in the League of Legends timeline. :)

If you readers are more interested with the AU/Modern type an setting, I have this new story of mine named "You Don't Own Me".

FEel free to check my stories out. Go ahead, no one's stopping you. :P

...

...

...

...

...

 **BONUS SCENE** : _(A small prize of mine for those who read the long A/N I left. ^_^)_

Ashe closed her eyes and let the shower rain warm water down on her, clear drops cascading down her cool and pale skin. She rinsed the bubbles away from her hair, while she hummed a small tune.

Just because her eyes are closed and the shower is running, doesn't mean she hadn't heard the bathroom door open and someone step inside the bathroom with her. She cracked one eye open and saw a blurry form, topped with the color red and whole body painted with black. She didn't have to open the steam-covered shower door to know who it is that had joined her.

Instead, she closed her eyes again and focused back in ridding her hair from the shampoo she had applied to it. In the background, she could hear the sound of a belt being unbuckled, clothes rustling and zipper being pulled down. She took her time in cleaning her hair, knowing a certain someone would be joining her soon.

She continued humming as she brushed her wet hair away from her face, smiling to herself when she heard the sound of the glass door of the shower being pulled open and someone stepping inside to join her bathing session.

Warm familiar arms wound around her from behind, also feeling two round and soft flesh pressing against her back. A pair of lips were against the right side of her neck, and she moved her head to the left to give the person much more room to explore.

"You're home," She murmured, placing a hand behind the person's head and pushing her neck more against the lips that kissed, sucked and licked.

"I am," Katarina smiled lazily against the skin of Ashe's neck. "And it looks like I'm just in time for bath time."

Ashe chuckled lightly. "Indeed."

Fully turning around, she pressed herself directly against Katarina's body, arms wrapping around the redhead's neck and hands pushing her lover's face more to her. Their lips were inches away from each other, their noses already touching.

"I'm quite glad that you made it."

Katarina grinned. "I can see that,"

Ashe leaned forward and took Katarina's lips into hers, while Katarina moved and pushed her back against the cold tiles of the wall. Each second that passed, Katarina's once dry hair became more and more drenched until it was completely wet.

She could care less with that fact though. Ashe lifted her right leg and hooked it on Katarina's hip, giving the redhead a great opportunity... and a nice view.

Ashe instantly felt Katarina's right hand wander downward, while her left hand shamelessly grabbed her rear and squeeze one of her buttocks.

"Mmm..." She moaned through their kiss as Katarina stroked one finger over her southern lips, which was becoming wet with more than just water.

As they continued their heated kiss, Katarina began teasing Ashe by pressing at least an inch of her finger inside her womanhood before pulling pur and just settling on stroking the outer lips. Truthfully, it was making Ashe, the most patient person Katarina knows, _very_ impatient.

Ashe broke the kiss with a rather arousing pop of their salivas, darkened blue eyes gazing into Katarina's green ones.

"Are you seriously going to tease me now?"

Katarina smirked at her in return. "Maybe."

She unwound and maneuvered one of her hands away from Katarina's neck, said hand teasingly crawling down until it reached the underside of Katarina's chest. Swiftly, she unhooked her leg from Katarina's hip and...!

Katarina quickly placed both of her hands on the wall before she could face-plant onto it. Ashe had abruptly crouched and had suddenly...!

"Fuck...!" Katarina gasped out as soon as she felt Ashe's lips against her lower ones, tongue darting out and licking up her folds. Her fingers against the tiled wall flexed as pleasure shot up her whole body. She clenched her eyes shut and bit her bottom lip, feeling Ashe lick her womanhood feverishly. "Oh...! Oh, fuck...!"

Ashe cupped and squeezed Katarina's rear with both hands, while she pleasured her with her own tongue. After groping Katarina's butt a few times, her hands moved and pushed Katarina's southern lips apart, leaning forward and licking the sensitive bundle of nerves.

Katarina felt her legs weaken beneath her, and she knew that if Ashe continued her pleasurable assault against her lower regions, it would eventually collapse due to being overloaded with pleasure.

"A-Ashe...ah!"

Ashe, using her left hand's fingers to keep Katarina's womanhood open, pushed the middle finger of her right hand inside, the warm and moist walls hugging her digit tightly. A wanton growl nearly ripped out of Ashe's throat as she slowly moved her finger in and out Katarina.

Katarina's ragged breathing combined with the sound of the shower and the quiet sound of licking beneath her, and the redhead was feeling like she was about to collapse any moment.

While Ashe fingered Katarina, she began sucking on her girlfriend's swollen nub, sending more and more surges of pleasure throughout Katarina's body.

Looking down, Katarina almost moaned out loud when she saw Ashe's eyes closed and savouring the wetness that dripped out of her. It most certainly isn't tap water.

Ashe, after sucking on Katarina's clit for a few seconds, pushed her index finger inside, the penetration causing Katarina to clench her eyes shut for a moment and to part her lips and release a loud, "Ohh~!"

The redhead looked down again and met Ashe's now open eyes, a glint of mischief showing in the cerulean hue of her eyes. Katarina didn't have time to recover any extra energy, for Ashe had begun thrusting her fingers in and out of her.

"Ashe...!" She yelped out, jumping in surprise. She had not expected the rapid pace the Avarosa chose to perform, and it was driving her completely insane with sexual ecstasy.

Ashe hummed in reply to her yelp, and it sent a mind-blowing vibration inside her core. Katarina's nails clawed on the wall, teeth biting down on her lip. The sexual pressure inside of her was building up, and she knew she was about to catch a glimpse of a rapturous euphoria.

"M-More..." She moaned out, running one hand through Ashe's white hair. "Ashe... I, fuck... I need more...!"

"Are you close?" Ashe asked Katarina, her breath causing Katarina's extremely sensitive clit to tingle and send another jolt of pleasure.

"Mmm! Y-Yes! I'm...nuughh...! Yes, Ashe, please...!"

"Great,"

With one long and sensual lick, Ashe pulled her fingers out of Katarina and raised back up to her feet, and Katarina immediately groaned at the loss of the fingers inside of her. She leaned back slightly, but still kept her hands on the walls, Ashe's head in between.

Ashe smiled sweetly at her. "It's not quite nice when you get a taste of your own medicine, hm?"

Katarina began regretting on teasing Ashe earlier. She always knew that her teasing would bite her back in the ass, and right now, it's biting her back down there. She pursed her lips and gazed at Ashe pleadingly.

"Please, Ashe... Give me my release..."

Ashe brought her two fingers up and sucked on the both of them, the same fingers that were inside Katarina just a few seconds ago. She made sure to suck loudly at the slim digits, arousing Katarina more and more with the lewd sound. She pulled her fingers out with a low and wet pop.

"I'm sorry, what was that?"

"Aaaashe!" Katarina whined, which Ashe found rather cute.

Ashe chuckled to herself before wrapping her arms around Katarina's neck again, pulling the redhead in for a kiss. Katarina accepted the gesture, hungrily, if one may add, and savoured the wonderful feeling of Ashe's lips.

"Would I really leave you unsatisfied?"

Katarina didn't get a chance to reply. Instead, a moan came out of her lips as Ashe shoved her fingers back inside Katarina's womanhood. The thrusting was quick, just like earlier. Ashe took advantage of the space between her and Katarina, and leaned down, taking one of Katarina's nipples inside her mouth, suckling it avidly and groping the other one with her free hand.

The pleasure of having herself being fingered and her lover sucking on her nipples pushed Katarina back to her building release. She kept one hand planted on the wall, while the other was lost in Ashe's hair. Since her tower of pleasure was already more than halfway finished, it didn't take much effort in Ashe's part to bring Katarina to her pleasurable peak.

"Ah, ah! Oh...! Ah, ah, ahh! Ashe~!

Ashe felt Katarina's already tight walls become much tighter than before, nearly prohibiting her from pulling her fingers out. But, after drawing circles inside Katarina more than just twice, Ashe slowly withdrew her fingers from inside the redhead, and Katarina actually unleashed a small moan at the sensual act.

Katarina watched with a heaving chest as Ashe straightened back up and leaned on the wall, casually sucking on her fingers yet again. Seeing Ashe tasting and enjoying her essence like some sweet candy fueled her whole body and lit another flame. She made a move in starting a kiss, but Ashe had suddenly pulled her fingers out of her mouth and placed the saliva-coated digits on Katarina's own lips.

"Ah-ah-ah,"

"What?" She spoke through the saliva-stained fingers. "Don't you want to feel good too?"

Ashe smiled before washing her fingers with the shower's help. Katarina watched with an intense and burning gaze as Ashe reached for the bar of soap at the side and began to rub it on her torso.

"Too dirty for you?" Katarina asked with a teasing smirk.

Ashe merely winked and placed a kiss on the scar on her chest before running the soap over it.

"Not at all."

"Then, what's with this?" Katarina glanced at the soap in Ashe's hands.

"I want you to take your time with me in bed," Ashe told her. "In order for us to move to the bed, you need to finish your shower."

Katarina wound her arms around Ashe before her hands gradually slipped down until it was on Ashe's butt, her hands squeezing the soft round flesh.

"Take your time, then."

 **xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx**


End file.
